


Strictly Business

by thecutestprince



Category: DRAMAtical Murder
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-06
Updated: 2016-04-28
Packaged: 2018-02-16 09:47:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 24,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2265135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thecutestprince/pseuds/thecutestprince
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They were attractive, definitely. However, Aoba knew nothing about them. This should have been enough of a warning sign for him to shove the drink away. Instead, it made the drink all the more enticing. If he drank it, he’d be accepting an invitation for something else. Something more. Did he really want to deal with ‘something more’?</p><p>Yeah, he did. At least for the night.</p><p>(Aoba gets his dick sucked by someone pretty damn important. This used to be a one-shot, but I've decided to rewrite it and turn it into a fic with chapters. Join the gay party now.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> please comment and congratulate me on successfully writing the word 'dick' in a naughty context. thank you for reading!!

'I should do something.'

Aoba sighed loudly. The realization that today was his last day a free man made him feel depressed and extremely tired. He had an interview tomorrow, and after that he would have to wait by the phone patiently to find out whether or not he got the job. He was told he’d find out that same day, and if he didn’t get the job, he was off the hook for a few more days. Either way, today was his true last day as an unemployed adult

His last day, and he had nothing to do.

It frustrated him. Not having anything to do was bad enough, but remembering he had an interview to attend the next morning made him extremely anxious. Unfortunately, there was nothing to distract him from being nervous about it.

If he didn’t get this job, he’d have to go job hunting again, and there wasn’t another job in Midorijima that paid as well as this one did. Thus, the interview was extremely important to him. In fact, he should probably get a full night’s rest to be in top shape. With that in mind, Aoba climbed into bed and set an alarm for 6:30 a.m. The interview wasn't until 8:30 the next morning, but he wanted to wake up early to eat a decent breakfast. He also wanted to show up early to the interview, to look good.

Aoba closed is eyes and welcomed sleep with his arms opened wide.

Five minutes later, he was awake and putting on his shoes.

“Fuck it,” he hissed. “Fuck it, fuck it, fuck it!” He was too damn nervous to sleep. Every thought that seared into his brain was that of the interview, and what if he fucked up, and what if he said something stupid, and what if they didn’t accept him because they didn’t like him or what if he didn’t make it on time or what if-

His stomach churned with each thought. There was no distracting him, at least not here in his room where everything was still and silent and nothing was there to preoccupy him. He had to make it all go away, somehow.

It wasn’t the best idea, but it was the only idea that came to mind.

He had to go to a club.

 

The thumping music was already enough to make his nervous thoughts go away. Actually, the music was so loud that he couldn’t even hear himself think. However, he was still nervous about the interview that awaited. A bad taste settled in his mouth, and he knew just how to make it go away.

He maneuvered through the dancing bodies and made his way towards the back of the club, where the bar was at. All of the seats were empty; it seemed that everyone just grabbed their drinks and took them dancing. Unfortunately for Aoba, he did not feel like dancing. He felt like drinking.

He always started off with a beer. Beers were nice starters; they tasted absolutely terrible but when you drink to get drunk, that doesn’t bother you too much. He sipped at his beer slowly, preparing to get shitfaced.

But before he could even finish his beer, the bartender placed a shot glass in front of him.

“I didn't order this,” Aoba shouted, already handing the drink back. The bartender did not take it. Instead, he pointed to the far left, at a man who Aoba hadn’t noticed before.

“He did.”

Aoba’s attention was no longer on the unknown drink, but on the unknown man. He tried not to make his staring noticeable, but it was difficult, given the circumstances. First of all, the man was attractive. He could hardly see them because of the dark lighting of the club, but when the colored lights flashed on every so often, he could see that they had blonde hair, and he could see that they were dressed in a very nice suit and tie. Second of all, the man was staring at Aoba with such intensity and lust that they practically had him squirming under their gaze. 

They were attractive, definitely. However, Aoba knew nothing about them. This should have been enough of a warning sign for him to shove the drink away. Instead, it made the drink all the more enticing. If he drank it, he’d be accepting an invitation for something else. Something more. Did he really want to deal with ‘something more’?

Yeah, he did. At least for the night.

So he grabbed the shot and quickly gulped it down. It burned his throat, warmed his stomach, and made a shiver run up his body and his eyes water. He tried to keep a straight face, and not look completely pathetic, but he failed miserably. His throat felt terrible and he began to cough into his fist so vigorously he was almost puking. He looked back up at the man with teary eyes and felt his face heat up when he saw that they were grinning, and possibly chuckling.

He grunted and stared at his empty shot glass, waiting for something to happen. He’d accepted the invitation; now what? He took the drink, but...

‘I guess that’s not enough,’ Aoba thought to himself, and called the bartender over. He ordered a drink and told the bartender to give it to the man who’d sent him their drink. The bartender nodded nonchalantly, but Aoba still felt a little guilty that the bartender was unfortunate enough to be caught in their dumb game.

‘I’ll try to end it quickly. And I’ll give him a tip.’

If he could afford it.

He watched the man receive their drink and watched them down it with ease. Seconds later, Aoba had another ‘invitation’ before him.

This game went on for a while. Order a drink, receive a drink, order a drink, receive a drink. When the man got up to leave and Aoba tried to follow, he was staggering and swaying and the world would not slow down for him. The music was louder than usual, almost unbearably so; when he saw the man heading towards the secluded VIP section at the back of the club, Aoba happily followed.

To get away from the loud music wasn't his main intention, though.

He staggered into the dark room and was immediately pushed onto a couch besides him. He parted his lips to let out a gasp, but another pair of lips were immediately on his. He quickly regained the little composure he had to kiss back, and tried to match his partner's vigor.

There was no need for talking. Their game had already confirmed that they both wanted this. There was only soft grunting and low intakes of breath. They would break apart for a second to breathe, but then they were immediately back on each other’s mouths.

Aoba bit down on their lower lip and they inhaled sharply in response, causing Aoba to smirk with smug pleasure. They would not let him have the upper hand, though, not even for a second. They placed their knee in between Aoba’s legs and grinded forcefully against his crotch. Aoba pulled away to groan, and the weakness he showed made the other chuckle before pulling Aoba back in for another kiss.

Aoba ran his hands up and down their stomach, feeling at their toned chest through the material of their white button down. The shirt under his suit was tucked in, a barrier between his hands and their bare skin, so he tugged it off and snaked his hands under the shirt. His hands roamed up and down their sides and abs, nails scratching softly against their sweaty skin. They responded to this by running their hands into Aoba’s long hair, gripping at it to deepen the kiss.

Sloppy, messy, tongue on tongue. Hot, heavy breathing. Aoba did not know this person, not at all, but that thought was quickly dismissed when they parted from the kiss and moved their mouth to his neck. They bit down hard, which caused Aoba to breathe in sharply. They left bite marks here, there, collarbone, shoulder. Soon, he was unbuckling Aoba’s belt and sliding his jeans down to his knees.

“Fuck,” Aoba sighed when the man grabbed his dick and immediately took it into their mouth. Aoba’s face heated up even more as he covered his mouth with his hand. He tried not let anything else slip out, but he couldn’t keep himself from moaning through his fingers. It didn’t take long before he came in the other’s mouth. He felt his world sway even more than it already was. 

He realized his eyes were shut tight and blinked them open. He was ready to return the favor, but the man was already exiting the room.

"Wait," Aoba called out, but then he covered his mouth with his hands. He felt something crawl up his throat. Shame? Disgust? Disappointment?

Oh, never mind. It was just all the alcohol he’d consumed.

Once he was done puking on the floor, he zipped up his pants and realized his belt was gone. He searched around for it, but it was nowhere to be seen.

“Goddammit,” Aoba growled. He let them suck his dick _and_  he let them take his belt, too. If he ever saw them again, he was definitely not sucking their dick. Whatever.

After recollecting himself, he left the club and took a cab home. He was thankfully able to avoid Tae, and only tripped twice while on the way up to his room. He collided onto his bed and his head pounded in protest, but his drunken state helped him fall asleep with no problem.

He'd successfully forgot about his interview. 


	2. Chapter 2

Everything was soft and muffled for a while. His vision was blurry, and he could only see the soft white color of the ceiling. He lay there confused, unable to move even his fingertips.

“ _WAKE UP! IF YOU KEEP STARING AT THE CEILING LIKE THAT, I’LL PUNCH THE SLOBBER OFF YOUR CHIN! GET UP!_ ”

He heard that, he _definitely_ heard that. Aoba groaned loudly, covering his face with a pillow to try and block out Tae’s screaming, but nothing could do that. She could be in a soundproof room and her shouting would still cause earthquakes throughout all of the island.

She went on shouting at him for about five minutes, stomping her feet while she inhaled to make sure Aoba received no moments of complete silence. Even her breathing sounded furious. When she finally grew tired, she breathed in deeply, grabbed Aoba’s blanket and pulled it off of him.

“Hey!” Aoba shot up and then reeled forward, collapsing into his hands. His head pounded, his throat closed, and his stomached gurgled unpleasantly.  “Give me my blanket,” he managed to whisper as he forced his stinging eyes shut.

“No,” Tae huffed, throwing the blanket over her shoulder. “If you want to be late, fine, but I won’t let you be late comfortably.”

“Late? Late for…” He turned to look at the clock.

8:00 am.

And his interview was at 8:30.

“Shit!” Aoba shouted, scrambling out of bed and heading straight for the bathroom. Tae watched him go, rolling her eyes at him and beginning to clean up the mess of discarded clothes and pillows around the room.

Ten minutes and he was done and out of the bathroom. He’d managed to only throw up once, thankfully, and by the time he was all dressed up, there was only a dull pressure in his head. On his way out, he took some medicine to hopefully subdue it, and Tae offered him some breakfast that he felt like declining. Whether it was his hangover or the nerves, nothing looked appetizing to him.

He arrived at the company building with five minutes to spare. The building was huge and probably had over a hundred windows per side. If he didn’t get the job, he could at least turn around and ask for a job cleaning windows.

The reception area was luxurious, with pale green walls and light brown wooden floors. To the right of the room were white leather couches, some big enough for possibly three people, and some for just one person. A glass-topped coffee table held a neat stack of magazines and a bowl filled with breath mints.

And before him was his death. The reception desk, a woman typing away at the computer, and behind her, a television which broadcasted the national news. She was in deep concentration, with her red lips pursed together, making it all the more difficult for Aoba to walk towards her and ask about the interview.

‘Breathe in, breathe out. Walk forward with your chest out, your shoulders broad, and your face showing off just exactly how confident you are.’

“Hi, I’m here for a job interview?” he asked, his tone of voice showing just how unsure of himself he was. He immediately felt like an idiot, but the receptionist smiled warmly at him in an attempt to calm him down. She handed him a clipboard with a stack of papers.

“You can go ahead and sit over there while you fill this out.”

Aoba nodded and wobbly made his way to the leather seats. The papers asked for contact information and explained just what the company was all about.

Apparently the company, named Zell Direct, started off as a company which sold desktops, but now sells many technological things from laptops to tablets to portable music devices. They were currently working on creating a browser and a search engine, and the building he was working in would work to improve the browser and search engine. For now, though, he figured he’d be filing things or something. The job paid a lot, so he’d wipe the floors with his hair if he was asked to do so.

He was done with the papers in ten minutes, but took an extra five minutes to work up the courage to walk back to the reception counter. He was about to hand the woman the clipboard when she stopped him.

“Give that to the person who’ll interview you. Take this hallway behind me and walk into the first room on your right.”

“Alright,” Aoba nodded, breathing in deeply. As he walked into the hallway, he wondered whether it was his boss who’d be interviewing him. That made him a little nervous.

‘Nah,’ he reassured himself. ‘Why would my boss interview me? They probably have more important things to do.’

“I’m late,” Noiz muttered to himself. His alarm screamed on and on, urging him to get out of bed, but all he did was stare at the ceiling, willing himself to start his day. He didn’t want to, though. He felt extremely tired and definitely did not want to be a functioning member of society.

Once he got over that, he took a shower.

He walked out of his shower, drying his hair with a towel. He stood in front of his closet and searched for a suit to wear, despite them all being practically identical. But he was looking for these shoes, these specific black shoes that had this design on the inside he really liked, and where had he left them-

A discarded belt caught his eyes.

He picked it up and examined it with narrowed eyes. ‘I don’t remember buying this...’

“Oh.” That’s right. He’d stolen it from someone. Last night at the bar. However, he had given them a blowjob, and a blowjob was definitely worth more than a shitty belt. He was doing the guy a favor by taking probably the least expensive thing on them.

He didn’t want compensation, though. He didn’t even really like the belt. He just wanted to keep the belt, simply because that guy owned it.

That was probably an unhealthy habit he should not dwell on any further.

He put on his suit and added the trophy belt to his outfit. It actually barely fit him, which reminded him of how slim the guy was.  They had long blue hair and a soft, girlish face that made the prettiest faces when they were getting sucked off.

Okay, he had to stop there. He actually wanted to get to to work at a decent hour.

Despite being about an hour late, he stopped by a random fast food joint and ordered a small coffee. He had brazilian coffee or cuban coffee or something of the sort at his office, but for some reason, he enjoyed the taste of shitty fast food coffee. He even ordered a bagel to go with his coffee. He was feeling good.

“Morning, Noiz,” the receptionist greeted him warmly upon his arrival.

“Morning, Jen. Anything new?”

“Not really. The meeting with Clear Inc. was rescheduled for next weekend, though.”

“Alright. If anything else pops up, I’ll be in my office.” He began to walk towards the hallway when Jen spoke up again.

“Wait, I just remembered, someone’s being interviewed right now.” Noiz smirked.

“Maybe I’ll pop in and scare the shit out of them,” he said and began to walk towards the interview room. He stood in front of the window and peered into the room.

When he saw that the person being interviewed had long, blue hair, Noiz immediately ducked under the window and cursed, almost spilling his coffee. They hadn’t seen him; their back was to him. But if the interviewer had noticed him, they’d come out and call him in to meet a potential worker. And that definitely would not go well, if they were who he thought they were.

Long, blue hair. Who else on this island had fucking long-ass blue hair? Goddammit, he was pissed, and he didn’t know why. He just felt extremely _anxious_ and he didn’t like it. He would have to make sure the guy did not get the job.

He _could_ take that route, or he could _calm the fuck down_ and think for a second.

If he made sure that guy never got the job, they’d be out of his hair. Gone forever, no longer a problem to him. Then again, Noiz would probably never see them again. This was an opportunity that would probably not present itself ever again. If he let it slip from his hands, it'd be a long time before he'd see the guy again. Was he okay with that? Or was he on the verge of admitting that the interaction between them at the bar was one he wanted to dwell in a little further?

Well, he wouldn’t admit it _out loud_ , at least.

“Jen, do me a favor,” Noiz said, popping his head through the doorway.

“Yes?”

“The guy being interviewed, what’s his name?”

“Aoba Seragaki, sir.”

“Aoba Seragaki…” He mumbled the name to himself and spelled it out in his head. “Once he’s done, ask him to come into my office.”

“Sure,” Jen responded, her eyebrow raising in both confusion and amusement. Noiz didn’t see this, though. He was already halfway to the elevator.

 


	3. Chapter 3

“Have a good day!”

“You too!”

Aoba walked out of the room with a goofy grin on his face. He’d gotten through it. He’d gotten through it perfectly. The interviewer was so kind and patient that they helped Aoba feel at ease. He answered everything swiftly and smoothly; he didn’t doubt that he’d get the job. He was ready to go home and eat a huge, congratulatory breakfast.

“Ah, Mr. Seragaki!”

He was almost out the door, almost to freedom, but the receptionist called to him. He turned around and pointed at himself.

“Me?”

“Yes, the boss would like to see you, actually. Just go to the highest floor on the elevator, and it’ll be the very last room.”

“O-Oh. Of course…”

What? Why did the boss want to see him? Did he get the job already? Aoba shook his head. ‘Impossible,’ he thought to himself. But as the elevator ascended, he couldn’t help but imagine the boss smiling widely at him, shaking his hand with vigor and enthusiasm. ‘You’ve got the job!’ they would say excitedly. ‘In fact, you get to work with me! Your salary has now tripled in dollar amount!’

Aoba was practically glowing with excitement by the time he got to the boss’s office. He closed his eyes and breathed in, squaring his shoulders and jutting out his chin. ‘Time to get serious.’

He walked in, but the room was empty. There was a couch, a coffee table, a wide-screen tv (there were tvs everywhere in this building), a large wooden desk and a comfortable looking chair, but no one was sitting in that chair.

‘Huh,’ Aoba thought to himself. ‘I’ll have to wait, I guess.’

There were two leather chairs before the boss’s desk, so he sat in one, looking around the luxurious room. His eyes found a door at the corner of the room. From the bottom of the door, he could see a light. Maybe the boss was in there? He’d have to wait and see. He examined the desk before him, staring at the skinny laptop and a skinny tablet next to it. There was a solid granite plaque at the edge of the table with the name “Noiz’ engraved in gold letters. Was that the boss’s name? It sounded sort of _juvenile_ to him. He imagined the boss having a name like ‘Robert’ or ‘Richard’ or ‘Harold’. Something professional and boring. 

“Noiz,” he mumbled to himself, letting the name settle in his mouth.

“Aoba.”

Aoba jumped up when he heard his name being said. He looked up and almost puked for the second time that morning.

Walking towards the boss’s desk was a tall man in a suit, with blonde hair and light green eyes. He was the guy from the bar. The guy who’d sucked his dick. He stared at Aoba with an intense look, reminding him of the night before. It didn’t turn him on this time, though. He felt like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming bus, and his fight or flight response was telling him to run away and never turn back.

“Oh god, I’m…,” Aoba finally spoke up, getting to his feet. But he didn’t know what to say. What do you say to someone that you hooked up with when you’re at a place of business? What do you say to someone who was _wearing your fucking belt that bastard took his fucking belt what the fuck?_

“You’re wearing my belt,” Aoba said through clenched teeth. That was the only belt he had and that shit stain took it from him!

Noiz looked down at Aoba’s belt. “Oh, shit, yeah. Right, fuck. Damn. Fuck.” He meant to take that off while he was in the bathroom. 'It can't be helped...'

“Just, give me my damn belt back and leave before the boss gets here!” The man’s eyebrows shot up. His face twisted, like he was trying to contain a laugh. This only infuriated Aoba more. How could he find this situation funny in the least? If anything, it was absolutely humiliating. “This isn’t funny! Take off my belt this instant or I’ll-”

“I’m the boss.”

Aoba blinked. “Huh?”

“I’m the boss of this company building. I'm the one who called you in here.”

Aoba’s jaw dropped. If he didn’t feel humiliated before, the sick feeling was definitely there now. He wanted to make a good impression on the boss, sure, but he didn’t have to go on and _hook up with the guy_.

Okay, well, he must’ve made a good impression if he was generous enough to suck his dick.

“Oh, god,” Aoba whispered, bringing his hands to his face. “No, no, no, god no, god dammit, of all the people I could hook up with at a bar, of all the fucking people? It had to be my fucking _boss_.”

“Calm down,” Noiz chuckled. “I initiated it, remember? So why are you embarrassed?”

“Why aren’t you embarrassed?!” Aoba shouted. Noiz shrugged.

“I wasn’t bad, considering the way you reacted, so there’s nothing to be embarrassed about.” He said this with a confident voice that made Aoba want to punch himself in the gut.

Aoba groaned, burying his face in his hands once more. “Look, what did you call me in for? I hope you’re not assuming that I’ll suck your dick to make up for yesterday, because you left before I could do that.” Oh, he didn’t mean to say that out loud. ‘Fuck.’

“No,” Noiz sighed, walking to his desk. “Sit down.”

Aoba was much too nervous to sit down, but he did so anyways. He was his boss, of course.

Actually, he _wasn’t_ his boss. He hadn’t gotten the job. And considering how things were going, he was sure he wouldn’t get the job.

Noiz shut his laptop and leaned forward against his desk. “I didn’t want to hire you without you knowing who you’re going to be working for. Everything would have been extremely awkward, and I wanted to avoid that as much as possible.”

‘Well, that failed,’ Aoba thought to himself, then his eyebrows shot up. “Wait, you’re going to hire me?” After everything that had happened between them? The kissing, the oral, the belt theft?

“Sure,” Noiz said. “If you work here, I’ll be able to see you more often.”

Aoba’s face grew warm and his eyes widened. ‘This guy… he can say those kinds of things so bluntly?’

He thought about it, though. He thought about the other people who would come to get interviewed, but would be turned down because Aoba took the job from them. They were probably more deserving of it than him. He scowled at the thought.

“I don’t want a job I don’t deserve. And in regards to what happened between us, that was just a hook up. Nothing more.”

Noiz watched Aoba, who stared back at him nervously but with a stubborn frown. He sighed, reaching for some papers on his desk.

“It says here that you’re unemployed and the only person who brings money into the house is your grandmother. I’m not trying to bribe you, but if you agreed to stay with us, you’d be making enough to support both your grandmother and yourself, and enough to eventually move out, if you wanted to.”

In his fit of rage, Aoba had forgotten what he was here for. He had forgotten how desperately he needed a job, especially a job as high paying as this one. Would he be able to swallow his pride to work for Noiz in order to support his grandmother? If he left, would that be selfish of him?

He could find another job, he told himself. But who would accept him, at his age, with his inexperience? He hated to admit it, but here, he had a huge advantage, albeit an unfair one. Anything that paid even remotely as much as Zell Direct would probably turn him down. Meanwhile, the boss of Zell Direct, for reasons that weren't a hundred percent professional, wanted Aoba to stay.

Aoba closed his eyes. “Fine,” he mumbled. “I’ll stay. But I can quit whenever I want to.”

“Of course,” Noiz said. “If you’re unhappy, I wouldn’t want you to stay.”

In which way he meant that, Aoba wasn’t sure.

“Do you want to see your office now, or tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow,” Aoba sighed, getting up to leave. “This was just too much for me.”

“I guess I’m always too much for you, no matter the circumstances.”

“Shut up!” Aoba exclaimed, standing up again and walking away from him. ‘You probably shouldn’t be talking to your boss in that way, idiot.’ He was about to walk out the door when he stopped and turned back to him. “Have a nice day. Oh, and you can keep my belt I guess.”

He left with that, leaving Noiz to feel that bullshit emotion that is infatuation. 


	4. Chapter 4

He wasn’t on time. That was per usual. But what _was_ unusual was the fact that he had gotten to work _early_. An hour early.

“What’s the occasion?” Jen had asked him with a small smirk on her face. Noiz had rolled his eyes at her, but now he realized that he should probably be a little less obvious when it came to Aoba. How would people react if they knew that the company head of Zell Direct had a crush on a newly hired assistant secretary.

That could make for political scandals, and politics were a nuisance to Noiz. He would try to be a little less lame.

And so he waited anxiously, reading through reports with only half interest until a knock was heard from his door. The door then slowly opened and Aoba walked inside, wearing a pale grey suit, his slightly wet hair in a ponytail.

“Morning,” Noiz said flatly. He wanted to tell him that he looked nice, but he guessed that he wasn’t in a good position to say so.

“Morning,” Aoba replied, stifling a yawn.

An awkward silence fell between them.

‘Damn,’ Noiz thought to himself. ‘How am I supposed to make this guy happy?’ Noiz mentally fought with himself, his face twisting into an odd grimace. Aoba raised his eyebrow as he watched the uncomfortable Noiz.

“Are you okay?”

“Oh. Yeah…”

“Shouldn’t you be taking me to my office or something?”

“Right. That’s what I called you in for…” Noiz stood up and walked towards Aoba.

‘What was that?’ Aoba thought as he followed Noiz out. ‘Does he just really want to fuck me? Is that it? Is that why he’s acting like a spaced out sixteen year old? Poor guy.’

“Here’s your office,” Noiz announced, motioning to a room which was literally only footsteps away from the doors leading to Noiz’s office. It definitely wasn’t the shitty cubicle Aoba imagined he’d be getting.

“Wha- why here? I thought I’d be at some generic cubicle, typing on a generic desktop computer.”

“No, you’re my secretary.”

“Secretary?!”

“Assistant secretary.” Aoba stared at Noiz in disbelief. ‘This guy… he runs a company?’

“Noiz. I have little to no work experience. How do you expect me to be an assistant secretary to a highly successful company?”

“It won’t be that difficult,” Noiz reassured him. “For now, you’ll only be answering phones and forwarding emails. You can ask me questions, or you can ask Jen if you’d like. She’s the receptionist, but she does a lot more than that, so she'll be of help to you.”

“Uhuh,” Aoba mumbled, but he was still stuck on one thing. He’d have to answer phone calls? Last time he did that, it almost turned into phone sex without his knowledge and he’d gotten fired. A phone call was why he came to Zell Direct for a job, and a phone call could get him fired! Again!

“You’re fine,” Noiz said, patting Aoba on the shoulder. But that only made him tense up more. He pulled his hand away and sighed. “You’ll be fine,” he repeated, then headed down the hall and to the lobby.

 

“Jen.” Noiz popped his head from the corner and caught a glimpse of Jen’s computer screen. He narrowed his eyes. ‘Pintrest.’

“N-Nothing new!”

“No, I know, I just- I have a question.” The awkward, flustered sound of his voice piqued Jen’s interest. She knew something was up.

“What is it?” A concerned, motherly voice would get the truth out of him.

“What do you do when you like someone?”

Aha!! Jen could almost scream. She instead repressed the scream behind a tight grin that hurt her cheeks to the point that they turned red. Noiz liked someone?! Through simply working for him, Jen knew a lot about Noiz. She knew that he constantly swamped himself in conferences and emails that when he found time off, he used it to go to shit bars and drink shit wine, even when he could afford the most luxurious of bottles. So, Noiz finding interest in someone was a really good thing. His dating years were passing him by, but Jen had a lot of hope for him. He was handsome and young, and she knew someone out there could stand his pissbaby attitude. If only he didn’t shoulder all the responsibility of this company, and let his father burden some of it…

Whatever. Noiz was finally showing interest in someone, and he needed her helping hand.

“Okay! First, you have to be well acquainted.”

A scene of Aoba and Noiz, drunk and indecent, flashed through his head. “We’re acquainted.”

“Oh, good!” She could barely contain her excitement. “Then, um… ask her out!”

“Ask _her_ out?”

“Yeah! Take her out somewhere nice! Maybe a fancy restaurant, maybe some place outdoors, I don’t know. Anything you feel like doing with her, do it!”

“Anything I feel like dong with them…” Noiz mumbled to himself.

“Uh, baby steps, though. Don’t take her back to your place if she’s not completely comfortable with that.”

“Okay.” He was nodding, staring off, and she worried he was still lost on what he should do.

“Anything else, just come to me. And don’t worry, she’ll love you.”

“Thanks,” Noiz muttered, and walked off. He felt like correcting her, but he didn’t. The less she knew, the better. Especially when it involved a co worker.

 

Aoba thought he wouldn’t have much to do, but he was wrong. He did as he was told; answered calls, redirect them, and read millions of emails. But he also wound up being the errands boy. Noiz and Jen asked him to retrieve this, save that, ask someone about this,  go and file that. After all of that running around, he was tired, and he gratefully took his lunch break.

The break room was as fancy as the rest of the building. Everything was shiny and spotless, from the wooden floors to the paintings and clocks hanging on the white walls. A few vending machines caught his eyes. One held sodas and bottles of water, one held chips, cookies and other snacks, and the last one made different types of coffee. Weird, considering that there was also a coffee machine at the counter. He would take advantage of the coffee vending machine at a later date, though. For now, he ordered a bag of chips and a soda, then sat down before a wooden coffee table and began to eat. He hadn’t even noticed how sore his feet were, but now that he was sitting back, the soles of his feet were singing relief. Only a few more hours to go.

Noiz walked in and Aoba tensed up. He hated that Noiz had that effect on him, but he did. Maybe it was because he was his boss, or maybe it was because of… that other thing. Whatever. He tried to act normal as he bit into his sandwich.

“You could’ve left to buy something else, you know. Or I could’ve taken you.”

“It’s fine. I like this,” Aoba responded to Noiz. But truthfully, if Noiz offered to take Aoba to buy a cheeseburger, he wouldn’t have said no.

Noiz stood there silently, making a face at his cup of coffee. Aoba realized that Noiz frequently made that face around him, when he didn’t know what to say to him. Was it really that difficult to talk to him? He was _his_ superior; it should be the other way round. Besides, Noiz didn’t have to stick around. ‘Why didn’t he just leave?’ Aoba wondered.

Except, he knew why.

Suddenly, Noiz spoke up. “Do you like food?”

“Um… yeah?”

“Okay.”

‘What?’ Aoba was again left incredulous by Noiz. ‘Geez, this guy is hopeless.’ But Aoba waited patiently while Noiz twisted his face again.

“What about fancy food?”

“Yeah, fancy food sounds nice.”

“Okay.”

He was being way too cautious for his comfort. Strategizing his words for Aoba was tiring and proved to be difficult. ‘Fuck it,’ Noiz thought to himself. He couldn’t strategize, but he could jump.

“What do you-”

“Do you want to go eat somewhere? On a date?”

Aoba looked around, then stared at Noiz in astonishment.

“A date?” he repeated.

“Yeah.”

He wanted to say no. He was still fairly convinced that Noiz was only after sex. That was fine, but it wasn’t what Aoba wanted. However, Noiz _was_ his boss. And for that reason, he felt like he should oblige.

So he obliged. “Sure.”

They set up the date and time, and Noiz left Aoba to mull over his decision. Noiz’s plan might have been for the date to lead to sex, but Aoba wouldn’t let it get that far. If anything, he could threaten to leave the company. It was wrong to let himself be pressured into going on a date, but he simply reassured himself that he could handle it.

And he could definitely handle fancy food and drinks.

 

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i finally upload a new chapter, one longer than usual because of the wait!! i was frantically doing scholarship things, so i didn't really feel like editing. sssorryyyyy

“I'm going out to get a slice of cake. Want anything?”

“Oh, why so generous? Are you in good spirits because it's going well with your _date_?” A giant grin was plastered on Jen's face. Noiz shoved his hands in his pockets and frowned.

“I guess... They said yes to the date.”

“Well that's good!”

“Yeah...,” Noiz mumbled. Nothing had changed, though. The atmosphere between him and Aoba was still a tense one. Their conversations were limited to Noiz asking something and Aoba replying. Maybe, Aoba was avoiding him. That worried Noiz, but there really wasn't anything he could do except wait for the weekend to arrive. He didn't want Aoba to regret his decision. 

Jen noticed Noiz's expression and bounced up. “Don't worry! The date will go well, and then she won't even be able to keep her hands off of you.”

“Thanks,” Noiz said. “Cake?”

“Chocolate, please!”

 

“Here.” Noiz set a small white box on Aoba's desk. He looked at it, then looked up at Noiz, who was facing away from him with a frown on his face. 

“What is it?”

“It's cake. I got you a cake. Throw it away if you don't like it.” And with one last flustered gaze, Noiz retreated to his office. 

Aoba's eyes traveled away from where Noiz used to be to the small, white box next to his laptop. He lifted the lid using delicate fingers, and resting inside the cardboard box was a slice of strawberry shortcake. It was  _adorable_ ; the cake had at least three layers of strawberries and cream, the frosting looked creamy and delicious, and an expertly crafted swirl of frosting held a juicy strawberry. It was a cake so perfect, Aoba didn't want to take a bite and ruin it's excellence. But his palate was stronger than his aesthetic, so he grabbed the plastic fork and carefully took a bite of the cake.

Oh god, it was  _delicious._ It was thick, it was creamy, it was sweet. It made Aoba want to jump out of his seat and rush into Noiz's office to thank him five million times over. 

And then a rush of guilt made him slump forward. 

Noiz. Could it be possible that Noiz genuinely liked him? Maybe their date meant more to Noiz than Aoba thought it did. He could be agonizing over every minute in anxious wait of the date, every single detail analyzed and prepared for with nervous anticipation. Meanwhile, Aoba was simply waiting for it to come, go, and be over with. 

It was difficult for him to accept the idea that Noiz could possibly have a romantic attraction towards him. He'd blatantly stated it before, but Aoba thought that he was going after something purely sexual, something he didn't want. However, he was judging Noiz solely on their interactions at the bar. He realized now how unfair he was being, how much of an asshole he was being to Noiz. 

'I'll make it up to him,' Aoba thought to himself. It all depended on how Noiz acted during their date, though. He wasn't fully convinced that Noiz honestly liked him, but he was now viewing their date with an open mind. 

All thanks to a slice of strawberry shortcake. Wow. 

 

Noiz had promised to pick Aoba up at 8, and he did. In a shiny, sleek, expensive car. It looked extremely out of place in front of his shabby home. Aoba felt as if he could feel all eyes on him as he stiffly walked to the car. Maybe he should be wearing gloves to touch the polished door handle. He climbed into the (surprisingly not leather) passenger seat and turned to Noiz. 

“You're driving?”

“Yeah? Why do you ask that?”

“I thought you would have a chauffeur or something.”

“No. I can drive just fine, why would I-”

He cut him off. “It's a joke, Noiz. I was trying to say your car is really nice.”

“Oh. Thanks,” Noiz mumbled, gripping the steering wheel. He stared at the car in front of him, then at the city lights. He was nervous, to say the least; his stomach had 'butterflies', which sounded like a totally stupid expression for lame nerds, but Noiz now understood those nerds. He would glance at Aoba and something in his stomach would stir, no, shake. It was stupid, childish. The effect Aoba had on him was frustrating, but he didn't try and run away from it. It only made him more determined to make Aoba feel the same way, somehow. 

And so, he swallowed hard and spoke in a smooth voice. “You look nice.”

Aoba looked down at his clothes. He was wearing a black sweater under a brown coat, and dark jeans. He was actually somewhat glad Noiz had noticed; the brown coat had cost him a lot. “Thanks,” he replied hesitantly, then glanced at Noiz.

Aoba, for the first time since their hook up, allowed himself to indulge in Noiz's appearance. Since then, he had stubbornly refused to think of Noiz as attractive, but now he allowed himself to admit it. Noiz was attractive, captivating, even. His features were sharp, his hair short and messy but attractively so, and the way he was sitting made him look relaxed but somehow in charge. He was leaning back but his shoulders were squared, and both his hands were holding tightly onto the steering wheel; Aoba noticed the veins on his hands and the scars on his knuckles and fingers. He was wearing a white button up under his black vest, and a grey coat and black pants. Aoba also noticed something, but just barely: he was wearing his belt. 

That didn't infuriate him this time. He actually felt sort of flattered. He'd thought that Noiz wore the belt only to piss him off, but no, he wore it because it used to be his. He now understood why someone would give their significant other a shirt of theirs to sleep in. 

“You too.”

Noiz jumped slightly; Aoba had caught him off guard. “What?” 

“You look nice too, is what I meant.”

Noiz didn't say anything; he  _couldn't_ say anything. Instead, he sped forward, thankful that the restaurant was only minutes away. 

 

“Damn,” Aoba whispered as he admired the restaurant. The building was white, and through the many windows he could see people eating and chatting, champagne and wine at their fingertips. He could also see that there were places to eat inside, outside, and on the flat roof top. He secretly hoped Noiz had gotten them seats on the roof top. Well, any seats were fine. The restaurant's appearance already left Aoba in silent admiration. He was getting hungry just thinking about the food. Lobster, fish fillet,  _expensive rice_ -

He was pulled out of his state of awe by his door suddenly opening. Noiz offered a hand as he held the door open.

“Thank you,” Aoba muttered as Noiz helped him out of the car. The generous gesture left him a bit sheepish so that his cheeks went hot, even against the brisk wind. He followed Noiz inside, tucking his chin against his chest and his hands into his coat pockets.

Noiz had made reservations the day he'd asked Aoba out, which may have been a bit much, but he wanted to make sure that nothing went wrong. He didn't want his plans ruined in any way, but now that they were at the restaurant, he could relax a little. They had to sit indoors because of a possible rain fall, but that was fine. Sitting in a secluded corner, Aoba's face lit up with the warm light of the candle's fire, was nice too. 

“Sorry for the inconvenience. We jut don't want to risk having our customers soaked, even if it does look particularly cloudless outside.”

“No problem,” Noiz reassured the waitress, and ordered drinks for both of them. Once she left, the two browsed through the menus. 

“So what do you recommend?” Aoba asked, looking up from his menu. 

“The pizza.”

“The pizza?”

“Yeah. Why do you sound confused?” Aoba blinked at him, then hid behind his menu and laughed silently. When he came back into view, he was grinning to keep himself from laughing again. 

“No, it's just, we're in this fancy restaurant with dimmed lighting and silk tablecloths, and you recommend the pizza.”

“It's good pizza,” Noiz said under his breath, which made Aoba laugh again. 

When the waitress came back, they both ordered their dishes and desserts. Noiz smiled to himself. Aoba had ordered a slice of pizza. He  _actually_ ordered the pizza.

“Why are you grinning?”

“What? I'm not.”

“You were literally just grinning like an idiot just now.”

“I wasn't. Shut up.”

And now Aoba was smiling. Noiz acted like a stubborn child when he was flustered. It was cute. 

“So... Am I doing good?” 

“What do you mean?” The waitress dropped off their appetizers, then left. 

“What I meant,” Noiz began, “was that this is my first date.”

“Really?!” Aoba couldn't imagine Noiz dating anyone, so it wasn't much of a shock to him, but for this to be his first date was definitely surprising. He could imagine a young Noiz adjusting his over-sized tie in front of a dirty mirror, getting ready for his-

Wait, no. He actually couldn't. He could only imagine him wearing leather jackets, intimidating girls and getting into fights with guys. He could also definitely see him with a bunch of piercings. He wondered...

Noiz's voice snapped him back to reality. “I had to ask Jen about what to do,” he admitted, a sulking expression on his face. “I've gone to restaurants like this with company managers to discuss important matters away from a work environment, but I've never brought someone I like to a restaurant.” 

Had Noiz ever liked anyone before him? Aoba wondered what his life was like as a kid and as a teen. Up until this point, he'd never experienced dating. Maybe he'd never known of crushes and nervous conversations and stammering in front of the person you liked. He imagined Noiz waiting anxiously for the perfect time to leave his house to pick up Aoba. He imagined Noiz in front of a mirror, running his hand through his hair a million times, maybe practicing what to say. 

He imagined Noiz not as his boss, but as someone who liked him. And, maybe, someone who he had similar interest in, too. 

“You're doing fine,” Aoba reassured him. “I haven't been on a date in ages. Makes me feel young again.”

“Calm down, Seragaki. You're like three years older than me. You're not that old.” 

Aoba laughed just as the food arrived. Noiz watched him, the way his eyes were almost closed when he opened his mouth into a laugh, and he felt the corners of his mouth tug upwards. 

This was nice. This was really nice. 

 

The lights to the restaurant were dimmed, but it still surprised everyone inside when they went out entirely. Aoba stopped mid-sentence and stared at Noiz, whose face was glowing orange from the candle's flickering light. He then turned to the window. It was raining.  _Hard._ The sky was dark grey with clouds, the stars no longer in sight. Rain drenched everything in sight, and the trees were shaking furiously from the hard wind. Above the nervous clamoring you could hear thunder. 

“Holy shit,” Aoba whispered, then turned to Noiz. 

“It looks like this will have to be cut short.”

The waitress packed up their desserts, apologizing for the inconvenience that Aoba reassured she could not control. The two of them walked outside and ducked their heads, but once their bodies became instantly drenched in cold rain, they found themselves running towards the car. Noiz almost slipped and fell onto his ass, and Aoba laughed at him, the distraction causing him to slide forward and almost fall on his face if Noiz hadn't pulled him onto his feet.

“We're a fucking wreck,” Noiz shouted, spitting out rain water. 

They made it inside the car, the food safe, but their clothes damp and their hair dripping wet. Cold shivers ran up his spine and Aoba laughed. Water was running down his face, a drop hanging off his nose. Noiz soon joined him in his giddy laughter.

“Christ, it's cold,” Aoba said as he peeled off his jacket. Noiz turned up the heater and they sat in silence for a couple of moments. 

A streak of lightning caught their eyes. The hairs on the back of Aoba's neck stood up.

“What do you want to do?” Noiz asked.

“I just want to get somewhere and wait this storm out.” 

“My house is closer. I could drive us there and I'll drive you back home when the rain settles.”

Noiz's house. Aoba would actually much rather go home. It wasn't that he didn't want to see Noiz's house, it just felt a bit... awkward. He had to stop himself from seeing Noiz as a boss and try to see Noiz as his date. But even viewing Noiz as his date, he felt odd about going to his house.

A flash of lightning and the low roar of thunder reminded him that he didn't really have a choice. He nodded and said, “I just need to call my grandmother.” He pulled out his phone.

Battery status: Dead. 

“Uh, can I borrow your phone?”

“Sure,” Noiz said, digging into his pocket. He did not pull out the square piece of high-tech glass Aoba thought he would. Instead, he pulled out an ugly, green flip-phone.

“Are you kidding me?”

“What?”

“A flip-phone, Noiz. A flip-phone.” 

“I only use it for calls,” Noiz grumbled. “If you don't like it, use someone else's phone to call your grandmother.”

“You're just something else,” Aoba sighed, the phone already pressed to his ear. It rang five times before Tae finally picked up.

“What?”

“Gran! Are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, I'm okay,” she muttered, and shuffling was heard on the other side of the call. 

“Do you need me to pick you up?” 

“I'm fine! If this thing doesn't blow over by the time my shift is done, I'll just stay here.”

“Are you sure?”

“I'm fine! Worry about yourself! Get inside and keep warm, alright?!”

“Alright,” Aoba said into the phone, but Tae had already hung up. He set the phone down inside the cup holder and thanked Noiz.

They stayed silent, the drumming of the rain against the windshield now amplified. Noiz wondered if Aoba was okay with it, with going home with him. Or, was he simply forcing himself into a situation he wasn't comfortable with?

_'Don't take her back to your place if she's not completely comfortable with that.'_

“Damn,” he whispered lowly, but it was loud enough for Aoba to hear and worry over.

“What?”

“I shouldn't take you home.”

“Why not?” Aoba was now very concerned. What was wrong with Noiz's house?

“Jen said so.”

“Jen? Wait, what did Jen say exactly?”

“She said shouldn't take you back to my place if you're not completely comfortable with that.”

Aoba grinned to suppress a laugh. He wondered how this guy could go to bars and hook up with strangers, and yet still be so naive.

“I think what she was trying to say was, don't sleep with me unless I want to sleep with you.”

“How the fuck does taking you home translate to that?” Noiz said, and Aoba could no longer suppress his laughter.

 

Noiz stopped in front of a pair of gates and waited until they swung open automatically. He drove down a few streets, and Aoba observed that most of the houses were similar; they were all modern and compact, very practical homes for someone to live in. Some were larger, probably for families. Noiz's house was on of the smaller ones, but for one person, it was pretty spacious.

Noiz parked the car inside the garage so they could step out of the car without being completely drenched by the rain. He could hear the rain crashing against the garage door, causing a chaotic chorus of ugly metallic noises.

“Let's go inside,” he said to Aoba, taking off his shoes as he unlocked the door. He flipped the light switch up, but nothing flickered on so he was forced to use his phone as a light.

Aoba took off his shoes and entered Noiz's house. It was surprisingly plain. Everything was whites and beiges and creams and greys. It was tidy, but he felt like Noiz wasn't tidy. He felt like Noiz was more of the type to leave his possessions close by, out in the open but never in a discarded way.

Noiz pulled off his coat and left it on a nearby chair. Aoba did the same as Noiz pulled out a lighter and started lighting the candles scattered around the living room. There were, like, six candles for that one room.

“Why do you have so many candles?” Aoba asked. The room was starting to smell of berries.

“I really like candles,” he responded.

“Oh.”

“You can leave the dessert on the kitchen counter.”

Aoba nodded and walked into the kitchen. Everything was spotless. There were no dishes in the sink, nor put out to dry. He wondered if it was because Noiz didn't even use his kitchen.

'Maybe he just comes here to sleep,' Aoba thought to himself. 'And he doesn't feel the need to make this place his own.' He silently followed Noiz upstairs.

Noiz's room was not as plain. There were discarded pieces of clothing here and there, and a lot of things were out in the open and within reach, like Aoba had suspected. He also noticed that, as stated before, Noiz really liked candles. There were five different jars piled in the corner of the room, and two jars sat proudly on a small dresser. Noiz lit those and the room began to smell of cinnamon. Well, they were convenient. They no longer had to rely on Noiz's shitty flip-phone screen.

There were two doors on opposite walls, and Aoba found out that one of them was a walk in closet. Noiz walked in to retrieve some clothes, then came out with a long-sleeved shirt and sweatpants.

“Do you need underwear?”

“I'm fine.”

“The bathroom's over there, if you want to change in there.” He pointed to the door on the opposite side of the room. Aoba excused himself to the bathroom, then changed into the clothes Noiz offered. They smelled of a soft vanilla scent that he tried not to indulge in, but failed. Before walking outside, he pressed the neck of the shirt against his nose and inhaled slowly.

'Not weird at all,' Aoba thought to himself as he exited the bathroom.

He walked in at either the worst moment, or the best; at this point, he wasn't sure. Noiz's back was to him, his arms extended behind him as he peeled off the damp button-up that clung onto his skin relentlessly. Aoba watched with words stuck in his throat. His words wanted to come out and alert Noiz of his presence, but at the same time, too shy to spill out. He watched the way Noiz's toned muscles moved, the way his shoulder blades jutted out softly. His eyes lingered on where his spine dipped, then dropped to his lower back, view cut off by dark jeans and a grey waistband. He might have stood there forever, jaw tight and fists clenched, if something metallic hadn't caught his eye.

Four dots behind Noiz's neck. Were they piercings?

Noiz tossed the shirt aside, turning around and facing Aoba. He tried not to notice Noiz's well-toned chest, flat stomach, how low his pants were; he tried and he failed. His eyes caught metallic dots again: piercings on his collarbones, his belly button, and his hip bones.

“What are you looking at?”

“I-I was just...” Aoba trailed of and stared at each of the piercings. He quickly averted his eyes, reminding himself that he was under Noiz's gaze. Heat rushed up to his face. Maybe the heat could evaporate the water droplets still clinging to his hair.

“I'm sorry, you're changing, and I'm- I- sorry.”

“I'm not that repulsive, am I?”

“No!” Aoba exclaimed, but the grin on Noiz's face told him he'd been trying to get that reaction out of him. “I just, I was wondering earlier if you ever had piercings as a teenager, and now I can guess that you did, so...”

“Oh,” Noiz said, looking down at himself. “I had more as a teenager.”

“More?”

“Yeah. Eyebrow piercings, lip piercings, nose piercings, ear piercings.” He paused and walked over to Aoba, grabbing his hand. Aoba held his breath as Noiz grabbed his index finger and brought it up to his face. He pressed Aoba's finger against the bottom area of his lip, and after a bit of movement, he could feel the small indentation on his skin. “Can you feel it?”

“Yeah,” Aoba whispered, pulling his hand away, but only to bring his thumb up to his face. He searched and found the knot quickly, rubbing his thumb over it, cupping Noiz's face with one hand, then the other. And then Noiz was leaning down, and Aoba was being pulled in somehow, and hands were holding his waist, and-

They were kissing. Who kissed who was something difficult to tell; it was like they had met each other in the middle. Everything about it was cautious: the way Noiz's hands rested on Aoba's waist, how Aoba cupped Noiz's face, how their lips pressed against each other. It was opposite to the night they'd hooked up, a rushed frenzy to escape the sexual tension they'd built up. They weren't escaping from anything at that moment, rather, they were settling into something, dipping their toes in the water, testing it with their fingertips.

Aoba's knees were weak when they stopped kissing. He let his hands drop down to Noiz's shoulders and he stood there with Noiz's hands on his waist. Noiz put a bit of pressure on his hands, and before he knew it, the two were swaying slowly.

They were dancing. Aoba laughed when he realized it, shaking his head softly.

“You're terrible.”

“I took like three years of lessons.”

“No, not at dancing. You're just terrible,” he said, breaking away.

“I don't get it.”

“It's a compliment. Take it as a compliment,” Aoba said and walked out of the room. He managed to make it down the stairs. He managed to make it across the living room. He managed to make it into the kitchen.

He leaned against the fridge, pressed his hands against his warm face, and almost screamed, because the butterflies in his stomach were causing some sort of whirlwind he could no longer bear.

 


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yyyyyyyyeah hides forever (i apologize in advance for my terrible writing, i am but a naive virgin youngun)

He gradually woke from his sleep, blinking his groggy eyes open. For a few drowsy seconds, he tried to make sense of where he was, and what had happened. He wasn't in his room, but in his living room. And his arms were wrapped loosely around a blue-haired sleeping beauty. The television made muffled sounds and displayed the root menu of a movie they'd been watching.

The night before, while the rain was still pouring and thunder still roared softly, the electricity had miraculously flickered back on. Noiz offered to play a movie, and Aoba chose one he'd seen before, but had forgotten most of the details of. They watched that together and ate their dessert. Noiz guessed that they'd fallen asleep sometime towards the end of the movie. Now he was lying on his back, Aoba snuggled against his chest.

How they wound up that way, Noiz wasn't sure, but he definitely wasn't bothered by it. Aoba's cheek was pressed against his chest, one hand resting next to his face and the other snake between Noiz and the couch. He looked adorable, and the fact that he was unknowing of Noiz's observations made him look more calm, more innocent. His blue hair was messy and fell at his shoulders, a few strands covering his cheek. Noiz decided to take the opportunity to softly run his fingers through Aoba's hair. When he was sure the action wouldn't wake him, he leaned forward and kissed the top of Aoba's hair. He then leaned back, resting his head against the couch's arm rest, and closed his eyes, gently running his fingers through Aoba's hair.

 

It wasn't long before Aoba woke up.

“Nn...” He stifled a yawn, shut his eyes tighter, and hugged onto his pillow. His _very firm_ pillow.

Confused, he blinked his dreary eyes open and took a few slow moments to asses his surroundings.

“Morning,” Noiz said softly, his chest vibrating against Aoba's ear. Aoba pulled away from him, his cheeks rosy from either sleep, or from being caught in such an embarrassing position.

“I'm so sorry!” Aoba exclaimed. He began to work his way off of Noiz. “I- I hadn't realized I'd, uh, fallen asleep.”

“It's fine, stop freaking out. Lie back down.”

“But you-”

“I'm fine like this,” Noiz said, guiding Aoba back into his chest. Maybe it was because he was still tired, but Aoba complied with no complaints. He pressed against Noiz's chest, but all stiffness in his bones melted away when Noiz's fingers traveled through his hair.

They stayed that way for what felt like hours, in such a comfortable position that they could fall back asleep. Noiz tucked a couple of strands of hair behind Aoba's ear, causing Aoba to close his eyes when his fingers brushed against the side of his face. He kept his eyes half-lidded as he stared at the tv screen and listened to Noiz's breathing.

A sudden, overwhelming desire to crawl up to Noiz's face and kiss him came over Aoba, making his insides go warm. He bit his lip, trying to stop his imagination from taking it any further, but the thought had crossed his mind and he couldn't stop thinking about it. He couldn't stop thinking about kissing Noiz, about pushing him harder against the couch with his chest against his. Their lips were soft against each other, but then they weren't, and Noiz was licking against his lower lip while Aoba's hands were traveling under his sweatshirt and pressing against his warm skin. He was pulling away from Noiz to kiss at Noiz's jawline and Noiz was sliding off his sweatpants, pulling them down, reaching for-

“Shit.”

“What?” Aoba asked, a bit too eagerly.

“I have a meeting." He threw his head back and groaned in annoyance. "I really didn't feel like doing anything today,” he mumbled softly. He continued to play with Aoba's hair.

“What time does it start?”

“In about...” he paused to check the time on the dvd player. “Two hours. I should probably shower.”

“You probably should.”

“Yeah...” When Noiz made no move to get up, Aoba crawled off of him and sat on the farthest side of the couch, pulling his knees up to his chest.

“Go shower and I'll make breakfast while you do that. Deal?”

“Fine,” Noiz sighed, standing up. “I'll be upstairs if you need anything.”

“Alright,” Aoba replied. He watched Noiz climb up the stairs, and when he heard a door shut, he sighed and let his legs drop to the floor. He leaned his head back against the couch.

He had the hugest fucking boner, and in someone else's house. Why, god why?

'He probably felt it,' Aoba thought to himself, feeling the color drain from his face. “Oh god,” he groaned, pressing his hands against his warm face. How fucking embarrassing. And what was he supposed to do? Find another bathroom, jack off there? No, he wasn't going to jack off in someone else's house. That's gross. He'd just have to make it go away. He got to his feet and headed for the kitchen to splash water in his face.

'Ducklings, puppies, kittens, ducklings, puppies, kittens.'

 

His shower would wait. His shower had to fucking wait. The second he shut the door to his room, he leaned against it and pulled his sweatpants down.

Had he and Aoba been thinking about the same scenario? They'd both managed to get boners at the same time. It wasn't like he hadn't noticed. No, he'd felt it. Aoba definitely had a boner. Did he know Noiz was in the same shoes as he was? He was probably too worried over his own erection to notice Noiz's, but...

A scenario of the two of them had found it's way into Noiz's head, and he couldn't stop it from progressing. He'd been thinking about the possibility of them having sex, right there, on his couch. He wanted so badly to pull Aoba's face up to his and kiss him hard, pulling him onto his lap. Aoba would grind against him, winning a moan from Noiz and teeth against his lower lip. He'd snake his arms under Aoba's shirt and pull it off, and then Aoba would do the same to his.

“Fuck,” Noiz growled lowly. He was conscious of every noise he made; it was possible that Aoba could hear him. But he didn't care enough to lock himself in the bathroom and do his business there. The tight feeling in his abdomen had to be released right then and there. He spit into his hand and wrapped his finger around his erection, moving his hand up and down and closing his eyes.

Where was he? Aoba would bite and kiss at his neck, his collarbone, his chest. To reward such actions, he would reach down and palm at Aoba's dick through the fabric of his sweatpants. Was Aoba vocal during sex? Whatever, he'll be vocal- and he'd moan softly against his skin. His erection would grow harder under his hand until he was practically begging for a hand job. And he'd do him the favor. He would reach into his sweatpants and grab his dick, that alone eliciting noises from Aoba that would drive Noiz over the edge. The farther he went, the quicker his hand would move, the louder Aoba would become, and he would try and say Noiz's name, but it would spill out in shaky breathes. His nails would dig into Noiz's shoulders, he'd arch his back, and he'd-

Noiz maneuvered his hand so that he'd come mostly in his boxers. He inhaled sharply and let the back of his head hit the door behind him as an overwhelming wave of pleasure spread throughout his body. Closing his eyes, he took in shaky breathes, calming his gasps, letting the pleasure pass. Once he'd recollected himself, he sighed and walked towards the bathroom.

In all honesty, he was kind of disappointed that he came before he got to the part where Aoba sucked him off.

 

When Noiz was done with his shower, he headed downstairs while simultaneously buttoning up his shirt. He only got half the buttons done when he got to the kitchen; the sharp smell of meat cooking filled the air and distracted him entirely. He took a second to admire Aoba, imagined him wearing only an apron and nothing under, then walked up next to him and peered over his shoulder.

“What're you making?”

“Bacon, for our sandwiches.” Using his free hand, Aoba pointed at the plates set on the counter. Egg sandwiches that made Noiz's mouth water and stomach growl. He looked over at Aoba with a grin on his face.

“You know you're husband material, right?”

Aoba rolled his eyes, though the comment was a bit flattering. “Shut up. I just know how to make a decent meal, unlike you.”

“Why make a meal when you can order out?”

“That's _unhealthy_.”

“And bacon isn't?”

“Noiz, I fucking...”

Aoba's frustrated grumbling caused Noiz to laugh. He gave Aoba a quick peck on the cheek and said, “I'm kidding. I really appreciate it.” He walked out of the kitchen and to the living room.

Aoba tried to keep his mind on the bacon he was cooking, but he couldn't. His face was hot from what had just happened, especially the area that had been kissed.

He wasn't used to it. He wasn't used to them... dating. Were they boyfriends? Partners? A couple? Not that he minded any of that. And he realized, he enjoyed it, he enjoyed them having a _relationship._ He wanted them to keep dating, to be boyfriends, to be a couple.

So what was he supposed to do? Tell him? How do you tell someone that? 'Hey, Noiz, I like this whole dating thing. Let's keep it up!' 'Let's be boyfriends!' 'Would you like to be my partner? My... lover?'

“Something's burning.”

Aoba's eyes quickly darted down to his burning bacon. “Shit!” he cursed, quickly fishing the bacon out of its oily death.

 

“So, what're you thinking?” Noiz asked between chews.

“I'm thinking, you should swallow before you talk,” Aoba grumbled. He _had_ been awfully quiet; he was still thinking about the bacon-burning incident. Well, not the bacon-burning, but the thoughts that had lead to that.

Noiz swallowed and smirked. “Whatever. Something's bothering you, and it isn't my chewing.”

“It's partially your chewing.”

“Partially?” Noiz pried.

Aoba sighed. Despite how annoying Noiz could be, he enjoyed this. He enjoyed their date, and he enjoyed the time they were spending together. He wanted to find more ways to spend time together, but he was still testing the water.

Well, Noiz had already asked him out. It was his turn to move a chess piece forward. Or, whatever.

“Do you wanna go on a date?”

“Right now?”

“No, not right now,” he rolled his eyes. “There's going to be this fall festival thing and, I don't know, it sounds fun.”

“Sounds for babies.”

“Sounds _fun_ ,” Aoba repeated sternly. He pushed his empty plate away from him and sighed. “Or we could not do that.”

Stupid Aoba, couldn't realize how much the offer meant to Noiz. He was practically gleaming with joy, though Aoba probably saw it as a victorious smile towards frustrating him. Nah, Noiz was happy, excited, both emotions mixed together. Those stupid butterflies were back, too. He cleared his throat and spoke up.

“No, let's go. I haven't been to this fall festival you speak of.”

“Really? It rolls around every year.”

“Never been. I did go to a fair, though. Once. I think I might have been eight.”

“Wow,” Aoba said. “You were lame as a kid.”

Noiz shrugged. “I was home schooled, so yeah. That's already lame enough.”

His eyebrows shot up at the new information. Okay, he'd only known Noiz for a month. Of course he hardly knew anything about him. But, he wanted to know more. Another reason to look forward to their date.

“I've gotta go,” Noiz announced, standing up and buttoning up his shirt. “Do you want me to drop you off at home?”

“Only if you can make it.”

Noiz slung a tie over his shoulders and started heading for the door. “Well, they can't start without me.”

 


	7. Chapter 7

“So how'd it go?”

That was the first thing Jen said when she heard the doors to the building slide open. Thankfully, it was Noiz; last time she'd excitedly asked, “How'd it go?”, it wasn't Noiz but some guy who constantly fucked up the printer every ten minutes, so she had to sit and listen to how his weekend went for an excruciating thirty seconds.

Noiz raised an eyebrow at her. “Good morning to you, too.”

Jen gave an annoyed sigh. With a sugar coated voice, she sung, “Good morning, oh sweet, wonderful boss of mine, yadda yadda- _HOW DID IT GO?”_

He rolled his eyes at her as he walked to her desk, then placed his elbows against the surface and darted his eyes to the computer. Jen quickly closed the browser, so he was forced to look up at her pleading face.

“Please tell me how it went?”

Noiz stayed quiet, just to torture her for those few moments. “It went well.”

“Okay, but, what _happened_?” she asked eagerly. Noiz pulled himself away from the desk and shoved his hands into his pocket.

“I'm not going to gossip to you.”

“Ugh, Noiz, it isn't gossip! It's just... I want to know!”

He snickered. She sounded like a whiny six year old, wanting to open her Christmas present early, wanting to know what was in the silver wrapped box. It was really amusing, actually.

“Well, I'll tell you this... They asked me out on a date this weekend.”

Jen squealed excitedly and jumped up from her seat to pinch Noiz's cheek.

“Look at you! Player!”

Noiz gently slapped her hand away. “You're way too friendly with me.”

“Let me be happy for you! Anyways, this is good, this is really good! _She_ asked _you_ out. She must really like you!”

Noiz shrugged. It was kind of weird, talking about his relationship to someone else. He looked at Jen's wide smile, framed by bright pink lipstick, and a thought dawned on him.

'I don't have any friends.'

He realize that he'd always stuck to just _one_ person. When he was younger, it was his brother. When he was a teenager, he had a group of (shitty) friends who he couldn't really talk to about things similar to what he was talking to Jen about. Granted, he'd never had a “crush” to talk about. But there were always family issues, personal matters he had no one to turn to about. There were things he always kept bottle up because there was never anyone to talk to. And now, right before him, was someone to talk to.

“What are you doing for lunch?”

Jen blinked at his sudden question. “Me? I just eat in the lunchroom most of the time.”

“Alright. I'll eat with you today. And we can talk about it.”

Jen's eyes lit up. “Sounds good!”

Noiz nodded and began to walk towards his office. “Okay, now get back to work. No more pinterest.”

“But it's so _pinteresting-”_

“You're fired.”

 

God, he was  _starving._ And today, all he could rely on was the vending machine's wonderful selection of chips and chocolate bars. Meaning, he'd have the shittiest lunch ever. Aoba vowed never to forget his food at home.

He walked into the lunchroom and was surprised to see Noiz and Jen sitting on the couch with their food, untouched, on the small table before them. Noiz had been talking, but his conversation halted immediately when Aoba walked in. Noiz suddenly looked a lot like a cornered mouse.

“Um... hey,” Aoba greeted awkwardly. Jen beamed at him.

“Hey Aoba! Did you know that our boss went on a date-”

“Shut up,” Noiz hissed, hitting his knee against hers. But Aoba was already grinning evilly.

So, Noiz was talking about him? Oh-ho-ho...

“Did he now?”

“Yeah!” Jen exclaimed. She smiled at Noiz, pointing enthusiastically at his face. “Look at him, all blushy!”

Noiz was _very_ blushy, and very flustered, as shown by his small pout. This was gold. Aoba made his way to the couch and began to sit down. Noiz glared at him.

“Don't sit down.”

“Too late. My ass is resting comfortably on this couch.” Now that Aoba was sitting own, Noiz was trapped between him and Jen. The mouse, cornered by two laughing cats. Aoba crossed his legs, placed his fist against his chin, and gave a sweet smile. “So? What happened?”

“Nothing happened,” Noiz grumbled, but Jen spoke over his annoyed voice.

“They went out to dinner!”

“Dinner? Aw, how adorable!” Aoba cooed. Noiz hid his face behind his hands and sighed. He tried to block them out with thoughts on getting Aoba back, but their voices were so taunting and annoying. Fuck it, he'll fire them both.

“And, get this, they went to his place and...,” she paused for dramatic effect. Noiz dropped his hands and glared at her, daring her to go on. And, of course, she went on, “ _they kissed.”_

Aoba gasped audibly. “Noiz, you dog, you!”

“Jesus christ, are you two twelve?”

Neither of them paid any mind to him. “That's all they did, though. Just one kiss. But Noiz says he's fine with that. He wants to take things as slow as he needs to.”

“Really now?” Aoba looked over at Noiz. Noiz narrowed his eyes at him, and Aoba smiled widely. His cheeks were still pink with embarrassment.

“I think he really _liiiiiiikes-_ ”

Noiz groaned loudly and got up to leave the room. Aoba and Jen looked over at each other with stupid grins, both trying hard to suppress their laughter.

“Noiz, don't leave!” Jen whined. Noiz turned and gave them both a menacing look, not so menacing because of his rosy cheeks, before leaving and shutting the door behind him. The two burst into a giddy fit of laughter, feeling like a pair of gossiping teenagers.

'Noiz is _talking_ about me. Noiz is telling other people that he really likes me.' God, he really did feel like a gossiping teenager. A very happy one, at that.

“He's so embarrassed, ugh, how adorable,” Jen said, wiping at her eyes.

“He's like a nine year old,” Aoba laughed.

“Exaclty! I hope he doesn't fire me or anything.”

“He just might,” Aoba joked as he stood up. “I'm gonna go tell him his secret date is safe with me.” In reality, he was going to tease him some more, and maybe some quick kissing would be involved, because truthfully, Aoba was kind of flattered that Noiz would tell someone else about their date.

“Alright!” Jen said, bringing a water bottle to her lips. She took a quick sip before her eyes widened with a sudden realization. “Oh! They're going on a second date, by the way.”

Aoba smiled. So he told her about that, too. “Really?”

“Yeah! He's super excited about it, it's fucking cute. He's just really happy that _she_ asked _him_ out.”

His hand stopped turning the door handle. _She?_ Noiz told her he's dating a girl?

“She must really like him,” Aoba said, trying his best not to sound weird. But his voice came out a little too soft, as if hurt by the news. He gave Jen a quick grin and added, “I'm gonna go see him.”

“Alright. Tell the nine year old I'm sorry for embarrassing him!”

Aoba laughed awkwardly before closing the door behind him. He managed to make it to the elevator, but when he got there, he was a nervous, shaky wreck. The elevator slowly crawled up; he focused his eyes on the distorted image of his body on the elevator's closed doors.

What sort of trouble could Noiz get into by dating him? He saw why he'd want to keep it a secret; not only was he dating someone who worked for him, but that person happened to be of the same sex. The weight of the risk Noiz could be taking never occurred to him, not until now. And now that he knew that no one seemed to be aware of Noiz's sexual orientation, it was making him sick. Did that mean that the people who worked around him were homophobic? Would they harass him, would they act differently around Noiz, would they give them trouble? How far would such harassment go?

Aoba didn't want trouble. He knew that if people found out, it'd be a huge hassle for Noiz, and Noiz already had enough looming over his head as it was. So, he'd bring it up.

Except no, he couldn't. Noiz probably wouldn't listen to him. Aoba's first day there, the day he was interviewed, he'd said there was nothing between them, but Noiz was stubborn and pursued him anyways. Noiz would be stubborn in this matter, as well. So what was he to do?

The doors to the elevator opened, revealing the long hallway that eventually led to Noiz's office. Aoba walked forward, focused on the faraway sound of his quick footsteps. He turned and walked into his office, sat down, opened his laptop, and kept a blank look on his face.

He type away mindlessly. He worked out what he would do, what he would say, with an uneasy, empty stomach.

 

Noiz shut his laptop and yawned into his fist. It was nearly 10; he hadn't even noticed it'd gotten so late so quickly. He stood and began to pack up his things when he heard the door open. Aoba peeked his head in shyly.

“Hey,” Noiz greeted him warmly. He actually hadn't heard from Aoba since he'd fled the lunchroom; he was too immersed in his work to give Aoba anything to do, but he was confident Jen gave him enough tasks. “Why are you still here?”

“I was, uh, waiting for you, actually,” Aoba said.

Noiz looked down at his stuff and smiled to himself. So he'd been waiting for him? What did he have in mind? Office sex? Of course not; he probably just wanted to walk him to his car, maybe kiss him goodbye. Even if it was just a peck, Noiz was looking forward to it.

He looked up at Aoba, who was still halfway hidden behind the door.

“You can come in.”

Aoba bit his lip and tightened his grip on the door handle. He'd waited all day, so he had to tell him.

“No, it's fine, I just wanted to say something...”

Noiz stayed silent, watching Aoba squirm behind the door, looking anywhere but him. He placed his stuff down and started to walk towards him.

“What's wrong?”

The worry in his voice absolutely killed him. He no longer wanted to explain anything, but he had to, but there were _other ways_. He could write a note, send an email, flee the island.

“Aoba-”

“I don't want to go out with you anymore.” He said it too quickly, too nervously, a little too loudly. Noiz was just a few feet away from him, and his hand was hovering in front of him, as if he was reaching to console Aoba.

There was a lot more to say, a lot more to explain. He had to tell him exactly why, and show him why it was for the best, but he couldn't. He could no longer force any more words out. He hardly had the strength to even look at Noiz, but it was the least he could do, so he did, and Noiz quickly glanced away.

“Okay,” Noiz said, his voice steady. Aoba licked his lips and nodded. He hadn't expected him to act so calmly. He should be relieved, but truthfully, he was somewhat unnerved.

“I'll see you tomorrow,” he muttered before turning and letting the door shut behind him.

Noiz waited for a couple of moments to pass; he didn't want Aoba to walk in on him sulking. Once he was sure Aoba wouldn't come back, he walked towards the slim black couch at the edge of the room, next to the tall windows which displayed the night sky. He lay down , crossing his arms behind his head, and stared up through the windows.

He knew it was useless to wonder to himself, but he couldn't help it.

Why, so suddenly, did Aoba refuse to go out with him? He'd seemed so excited, so eager to take him to the festival. It seemed like they were finally going somewhere, too, relationship-wise. What was giving him second thoughts?

This was something that both of them should be talking about, together. It should definitely be talked about, rather than left as an unspoken question. He wasn't going to let it hang above his head, hauntingly so.

He wasn't going to give up on them. They'd work it out, for sure. Whatever it was, he'd find out and they would work it out. It just came down to when the time was right.

The week ahead of him seemed to stretch out for miles.

 


	8. Chapter 8

The entire week was spent avoiding and being avoided. Aoba woke up earlier and managed to make it to work without running into Noiz, but he found out later that it was only because Noiz had gotten there hours earlier so he wouldn't have to run into _him_.

Jen noticed Noiz's sudden interest in getting to his office earlier. He would lock himself in his office and request more cups of coffee than usual. It would make sense that Aoba should be the one to give it to him, but when Jen suggested it, he specifically asked for  _her_ to deliver it, and if not, then someone else. 

That was odd. His entire behavior was odd. And now, Jen had a hunch that it had something to do with Aoba.

She confronted him immediately, cornered him at the perfect moment: lunch. 

“What have you done with Noiz?”

Aoba stopped mid-chew, eyes widened in surprise by the sudden accusation. He quickly swallowed his food and wiped at his mouth.

“What?” 

“You heard me,” she replied sternly, sitting down next to him with arms crossed and eyes narrowed. “Noiz is acting weird, and it's because of you.”

The color drained from Aoba's face. Noiz  _had_ told her about their date, but he hadn't mentioned it'd been with him. He didn't think that he'd go and tell Jen  _everything_ . “He told you?”

Jen's eyebrows shot up a bit. She hadn't expected such a reaction out of him. “Told me what?”

A quick wave of relief flooded through him. He couldn't relax, though; now, Jen knew something was definitely going on between him and Noiz.

“Nothing.” He tried to divert her attention. “Why are you asking?”

She wanted to press the matter further, wanted to figure out why Aoba had looked so panicked. But she acted stupid instead. If anything, she could get more out of Noiz. Once he let her into his office for more than three seconds, of course. 

“He's just acting weird, you know? He asked me for coffee, and I told him that I'll give it to you to give to him, but he told me not to do that. He said if I couldn't, ask someone else. Anyone, but not you. Why is he avoiding you?”

“I can't say,” Aoba mumbled. The guilt on his face made any trace of anger Jen had felt towards him disappear entirely. “Sorry.”

And now he had to go on and  _apologize_ for her nosiness? Precious boy. “No, I'm sorry!” She waved her hands at him, then let them drop to her lap. “I just don't get him, you know?” she sighed. 

“Yeah. He's locking himself in his office and you want to know why, but you feel like asking isn't an option.”

“Yeah! He's my boss, and I have to respect that, but... He's my friend, too, which might be weird, but whatever.”

'You think that's weird? Ha, let me tell you.'

“I guess you can't know everything,” Jen mumbled as she stood up. She exhaled loudly and turned to Aoba, smiling warmly at him. “Sorry for the weird interrogation. Forget it ever happened!” With a flourish of her hand, she exited the room, leaving Aoba to his lunch. 

It was Aoba's turn to exhale loudly. He let his head fall back on the couch and stared up at the ceiling. 

It didn't feel right for him to feel so shitty, but he did. He couldn't help it. Had he even made the right decision?

No, of course he did. It was for the best. 

Avoiding was difficult, but being avoided proved to be a lot harder. 

 

By the time Saturday rolled around, Aoba felt too emotionally drained to go to the fall festival. He wanted to just crawl into bed, curl up in a bunch of blankets, and sleep the weekend away. But, if anything, such a downer mood was  _more_ of a reason to get up and leave. The week's event shouldn't have the power to cage him in like that. Now that he was determined to enjoy the night, he put on his coat and left for the festival, walking slowly into the chilly, autumn night. 

He opted to walk to the festival instead of driving there, because with walking came a reminiscent, nostalgic feeling. As a kid, he and Tae would always walk to the festival together. Maybe the walk was supposed to drain his energy quicker, but either way, it was always fun. He'd be so excited about the festival that he would end up walking a bit faster than Tae and would have to wait at the corner of each block for her. Block after block, he would rush on forward, until his eyes caught a street spilling out an orange glow. He'd shout at Tae to hurry, that the festival was  _right there_ , and Tae would scold him for not being patient, but how could he be patient? The festival was only two blocks away, but streets were territories he could not cross without Tae's hand in his. 

When they finally arrived at the festival, the first thing he'd do was rush to the stalls with games and prizes. Teddy bears, light-up wands, and an excessive amount of neon colored stuffed animals. He was determined to win something for Tae, and his chest would fill up with pride when he caught her grinning about it. As much as he wanted to, he didn't go for the big prizes because they'd be a bother for Tae to have to carry home. Small prizes were always enough.

Running around and playing games would zap his energy in half, and the rest of his energy would be devoted to devouring snacks. Chocolate covered pretzels, jelly-filled donuts, pumpkin pie, and (his favorite) hot chocolate piled high with tiny marshmallows. By the time he was done stuffing himself, he was too full and too tired to walk home. He would try his best to stay awake, but he'd blink and suddenly he was clinging onto Tae's back. She would carry him home on her back and tuck him into bed, a pleasant way to end a pleasant day. 

'Man, why did I ever stop going?' Aoba wondered to himself. It was probably when Tae started working night shifts that he stopped going. And even when he was old enough to wander the city alone, he stayed home the night of the festival. It just wouldn't feel the same with Tae working so late.

'I'll win her something tonight. Like always,' he thought to himself as he began to near the familiar street which spilled orange light. Aoba smiled softly. Even now, he could feel the anticipation swell in his stomach as he got closer. He would turn the corner and see orange lights, fallen leaves, a sight he always looked forward to.

But he would only have seconds to appreciate it. 

 

His eyes immediately went to a bench, a bench where Noiz was sitting. Thankfully, he hadn't noticed Aoba yet, but Aoba had noticed him, and it made his stomach turn with anxiousness instead of anticipation. He could only see the side of his face, outlined by a soft glow of orange light. The lights filtered through the edges of his messy hair and made his eyes glow a different shade of green. Aoba realized it'd actually been a while since he'd seen Noiz, really seen him. It made a wave of guilt pass through him, and the mood from before he left the house instantly returned. 

He just wanted to run up to him and kiss him.

Right when he thought that, Noiz turned around, now facing him, and their eyes met. 'Shit,' Aoba thought to himself as he felt his stomach drop. Now he  _had_ to confront him. There really was no escaping it. 

Aoba walked over to the bench as casually as he could. He tried not to show signs of shaky knees and sweaty palms. With every step he took, he felt something crawl up his throat. God, he felt sick. He shouldn't have come. He should have just stayed home. 

It felt like he had to walk miles to get to Noiz, but it was only a couple of feet. He stopped in front of the bench, biting the inside of his cheek. Noiz looked up at him, eyes half-lidded, lips set thin. Even though he looked frustrated with him, Aoba couldn't help but feel a twist in his stomach when he looked down at him. Last time they'd been this close was, well, last week. The thought made him feel sad. If circumstances were different, he would grab Noiz's face, lean down, and kiss him lightly under the string lights. But circumstances only allowed him to crave the thought.

“Follow me.” 

Aoba's voice wavered a bit, but he didn't let it bother him. He turned around and marched away. The proper thing was to wait for Noiz to get up and catch up with him, but he couldn't stop walking. He couldn't even think of turning around to face him. His bones were stiff, back too straight, and the few steps of distance between them was something he would just have to endure for the time being. 

Noiz stood up and took a few quick strides to follow him, but stayed a few steps behind Aoba. He wanted desperately to reach forward, slip his hand into the pocket of Aoba's coat, and lock their fingers together. To resist that urge, he shoved his hands into his own coat's pocket and stared straight ahead, to the space next to Aoba's head. 

Aoba led Noiz towards the very end of the street, to where a ferris wheel was. Aoba paid for himself and for Noiz, and they awkwardly climbed into the shaky carriage. The door shut next to them with a loud, metallic thud. 

They were quiet, sitting across from each other and looking anywhere but  at each other. The carriage shook frantically as it crawled upward, and in response to the jerky movement Aoba grabbed at the seat and let out a small, startled noise that made Noiz smile to himself. When the movement stopped, he sighed in relief and Noiz laughed. 

“Why'd you bring me here if you're so scared?”

“I'm not,” Aoba grumbled, looking out at the scene under him. But he couldn't stare at the tops of booths forever. He sighed again, and finally faced Noiz. 

“I think part of me wanted you to be here,” he said softly, nervously clasping his hands together. 

“Then why did you cancel on me?” Noiz was looking directly at Aoba's eyes, and it didn't take long for Aoba to look away guiltily. He stayed quiet, trying to figure out what to say. 

“I really like you, Noiz, I do. Please don't doubt that.”

'It's kind of hard not to,' Noiz thought to himself. The same thought seemed to cross Aoba's mind as he frowned to himself. 

“I'm just worried now.”

It was Noiz's turn to frown. “Worried about what?”

Aoba inhaled deeply, only to stall. He wanted to stall more, maybe by possibly ripping the carriage door open and leaping out, only to crash into the top of a booth and ruin a child's dart game, but he knew he couldn't do that. And so he spoke. “Jen told me you're dating a girl.”

“Uh, okay.”

Of course he wouldn't get it. Not right away, anyways. “Why did you tell her that?” 

“Because I can't exactly tell her I'm dating a coworker?” Noiz thought that was obvious enough. He thought both of them knew their relationship would have to be kept secret. If anything, he thought Aoba would  _want_ him to lie about it. So why was he worried?

“But why did you tell her you're dating a  _girl_ ?” Aoba asked.

“Well, I didn't, not exactly. She just assumed.”

“But you never bothered to correct her, right?”

“Aoba, why does that bother you?” Noiz asked in frustration as the carriage suddenly jerked up. Aoba grabbed onto his seat and twisted his face. When the carriage stopped rocking, his faced relaxed, though his stomach was still wish-washy. He blamed the carriage, not the confrontation ensuing. 

“It bothers me because now I'm realizing how risky it is. It's already risky enough to be dating a coworker, but a  _male_ coworker? How can we be so sure that the people we work with are going to be understanding?

'Shit.' He was obviously shaken up about it. He was breathing weirdly, his eyes felt gross, and he kept rambling and rambling and he just couldn't stop talking. He went on, stuttering, possibly spitting, his voice getting higher to the point where he was probably shouting. 

“How can we be so sure that everyone will be okay with it? That everyone who works for you isn't homophobic? What if they do find out and, and they don't like it, and this whole scene ensues and-” He paused, finding his words, trying not to be such a mess, but failing. He pressed his lips together and looked up at Noiz. “I don't want to cause so much trouble for you, Noiz. I don't want to make your job harder. I don't want someone to look at you wrong, think about you wrongly, maybe even hate you enough to file a false claim of sexual harassment and get you in trouble. And even if it was a bullshit claim, and it all gets dealt with and you don't get in any serious trouble, now you have that on your reputation, and who are they gonna believe? The guy in a same sex relationship with a sexual harassment claim hanging over his head, or the 'innocent' person saying they were harassed?”

Noiz got up as carefully as he could, trying not to shake the carriage, and slid into the space next to Aoba. He pulled Aoba into his arms, and Aoba buried himself into his chest without hesitation. He rubbed his back soothingly, trying to calm him down. 

Halfway through his talking, Aoba's eyes had started to water, and his voice wouldn't stop shaking. It absolutely tore Noiz apart, and he couldn't just stay sitting there, with not even their knees touching. 

He didn't want to have to see Aoba so upset. 

The carriage gave another shaky movement. Noiz hugged onto Aoba tighter so that he wouldn't get startled over it. The carriage stopped and after a few beats of silence, Noiz decided to start speaking. 

“Aoba, it's always going to be risky.” Aoba nodded when he said this. “It's always gonna be fucking risky. I know this already. Don't you think I thought about it too? The day I decided to pursue you, to ask you to work with me, I already knew it was all going to be complicated. And I thought it over. It kept me up at night, worrying about this shit I wish I didn't have to worry about. But I did worry about it, I do worry about it, and I'll always  _have_ to worry about it. And I don't care, Aoba. I don't care about how risky it is, because I care about you more.”

Aoba spoke up, muffled voice still trembling a bit. “I don't want to be a risk-”

“ _We're_ a risk. No matter what, we're a risk. While at work, while out for dinner, while here on this stupid ferris wheel. We're risk I'm willing to take. You just have to be willing to take it, too.”

Aoba pulled away from Noiz and quickly wiped at his eyes. His face was probably all puffy and gross from getting so worked up, but he couldn't help it. Especially when Noiz took him into his arms, he couldn't hold it all in. He'd held it in for a week.

“What if you get in trouble?” he asked. And no matter what answer he got, he was still going to constantly worry. But it was time he realized that, so would Noiz. 

“It's not gonna be your fault. Understand that whatever ends up happening, I'm not going to blame you or our relationship, okay? The world is full of shitty people, Aoba. And I understand that shitty people might be working for me. But they're not going to stop me from liking you, Aoba. They're not gonna stop me from knowing that liking you is not a mistake.”

Aoba reached forward, grabbed Noiz's face, and kissed him. He'd waited an entire week to do that, and Noiz had waited an entire week for him to do it. It had only been a few days, not even the entire seven, it shouldn't have pained them so much. But it did, and it was evidently shown by the way Noiz wrapped his arms around Aoba again, and by the way he pressed himself against him in response. He wrapped his arms around Noiz's neck, further deepening the kiss. The cart rocked again, but Aoba didn't let it bother him. He focused entirely on the arms around him, the lips pressed against his, the small, breathy side Noiz let out when he sucked on his lower lip.

They had a lot of catching up to do.

While 'catching up', they'd completely lost track of time. How many times had the carriage gone up, or gone down? Did this ferris wheel go around once, or did it go twice? These are the questions you can't answer when you're busy running your tongue against someone else's lower lip. The next time they pulled away from each other, they felt a pair of eyes on them. When they turned, they saw a guy holding the door to their carriage open, and a couple awkwardly stood next to him, waiting to climb into the obviously occupied carriage. 

“Oh my god,” Aoba said, feeling his face flare up and his stomach drop in pure dread. “I am so sorry oh my god I'm sorry I'm-”

“Let's go,” Noiz announced, standing up and leading Aoba out of the carriage. Aoba stumbled out of the shaking carriage and kept his eyes strictly on the ground as they passed the couple that was probably still staring at them. He felt as if  _everyone's_ eyes were on them, and god, he felt like vomiting, too. 

Noiz, on the other hand, was smiling triumphantly. The boy was practically glowing as bright as the lights strung around them. 

A bit of walking and Aoba was fine. His face was back to its regular color, and he didn't feel like vomiting that much. It was then that he realized they were still holding hands. He was back to blushing, though not as intensely as before. 

“So, what do you want to do?” Noiz asked, looking over his shoulder to him. Aoba blinked, then gave a small smile.

“Anything. Let's just stay together.”

Noiz turned and started walking again. “Okay, weirdo,” he said, trying to stay cool. But Aoba's words had brought color to his own cheeks. And with it, a wave of happiness.

Aoba caught Noiz grinning and his chest filled up with pride. Pride, and a little bit of something else.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i put this off so much and even now as i type this at 12:43 am im like dude maybe i should work on it more and post it tomorrow but NOPE here goesssss  
> lms if i should do a quick drabble of their fall festival adventures because fluff and why not


	9. Chapter 9

Saturday mornings were their favorites. They were the easiest to melt into.

Sure, Friday and Sunday mornings were good, too, but they didn’t compare to Saturdays. Friday’s didn’t really begin until work ended, and that could range from 4 pm to 11 pm. Sometimes, the two would go out for drinks, maybe a dinner date. But most of the time, Noiz was too tired, and all he wanted to do was crawl into bed with his boyfriend snuggled up next to him.

Sundays were groggy, the knowledge of a too near Monday at work weighing them down. Saturday’s were truly the best. 

For example, this beautiful Saturday, Noiz woke up to Aoba curled up against him, legs intertwined with his, arms draped around his chest. He smiled warmly to himself and began to run lazy fingers across Aoba's forehead, moving his bangs to get a clearer view of that angelic face.

Aoba’s eyelashes fluttered, but he kept his eyes closed. Noiz ran fingers down the back of his hair and Aoba sighed against the movement, snuggling his cheek harder against the fabric of Noiz’s pajama shirt. A harsh, sudden movement against Aoba’s hair finally made him open his eyes in an angry squint.

“Hey,” Noiz said with a sly smirk, once again ruffling Aoba’s hair.

Aoba scrunched up his nose and yawned. “Hi,” he mumbled. He hugged Noiz’s chest a little tighter.

“What time is it?” 

“Ahh,” Aoba pulled away from Noiz’s embraced and reached for his phone. His fingers came across keys and wallets before, finally, he was able to retrieve his phone from the cabinet top. He clicked his phone on and read aloud the time.

“Nine twenty-four. Oh, hey, Jen sent me a snap.”

Noiz was now the one with his arms around Aoba’s waist, chin resting on the top of his head. “You have Jen added on  _ snapchat? _ ”

“Well, yeah,” Aoba said, opening the application. “How else would we send each other awful pictures of you?” 

Noiz pinched Aoba’s side, causing him to giggle. “Why doesn’t Jen add  _ me _ on snapchat?”

“Maybe if you didn’t have a fossil for a phone…,” Aoba trailed off. He opened the snap, which was a picture of sunlight sneaking it’s way through a window. The caption was simply the word ‘no’.

Aoba laughed, then took a lazy picture of himself. ‘Same,’ he captioned it, before sending it and tossing his phone against the pillow. He turned around and snuggled into Noiz’s neck.

“You want breakfast?” Aoba asked. His breath tickled against Noiz’s neck, sending a small wave of pleasure down his back. 

“Maybe later,” Noiz mumbled. He began planting kisses against Aoba’s ear, then his cheek, his jaw, and eventually, his lips. 

Aoba’s phone buzzed loudly. Noiz groaned against Aoba’s kiss and moved his hand from under Aoba’s shirt to reach for the phone. 

“Jen sent you a chat.”

“Lemme see,” Aoba said, grabbing the phone from Noiz. He opened the application and, sure enough, saw a blue chat square from Jen. He slid it open. 

Apparently, Jen had screenshotted his previous snap. And she’d sent it back to him, a red circle now drawn around an area behind Aoba. Under the picture was the words ‘Who that.’ 

Aoba’s face went warm. He quickly tapped the picture to get a closer look. He let out a small sigh of relief. All that was circled was Noiz’s shoulder. You couldn’t really see much else. Still, his stomach was doing somersaults, and an incredulous laugh escaped his throat. 'Christ, that was close.'

“What?” Noiz asked. He peeked his nose over the phone and bumped his forehead against Aoba’s. “What’d she say.”

Aoba turned the phone to let Noiz get a look. He studied the phone for a while, then grunted.

“She’s so nosy.”

Aoba raised his eyebrows. “Right…” He looked back at his phone and scrunched his nose. 

“When are you going to tell her about me?” Aoba asked, looking into Noiz’s eyes. They quickly darted away, and Noiz was suddenly scowling. They'd been dating for quite a few months now, but Noiz still insisted they keep the relationship a secret from their coworkers,  _especially_ Jen. Noiz had already told Jen that things had ended badly between he and the girl he'd been dating. Jen was disappointed, but she got over it. Eventually. 

Aoba was fine with it. Mostly. He was fine with not telling anyone in the company that he and Noiz were together. In fact, he was glad Noiz was the one to suggest, not him. Still, the one person he wanted to tell, the one person he felt he could actually trust, was Jen. But Noiz refused.

“Never.” Noiz  _repeatedly_ refused. 

“Really?” Aoba whined. “I think she’d be cool about it.”

“Absolutely not,” Noiz said. “She would be very  _ not  _ cool about it. Remember when I told her I was dating someone? She kept asking about 'her', day in and day out. Even after I told her we broke up, she would ask if we got back together. It's a wonder she actually let it go . Now that she saw you're with someone, she's gonna nag  _you_ all day. See how you like it” 

“Speak of the devil.” Aoba sighed and turned the phone to Noiz. 

jayjen: lmao srsly aoba who that

saobas: no one!! I told you already

Jayjen: ur a fckn liar

jayjen: ughh who r u hookin up with!!!!

jayjen: please… please tell me the juicy goss… i need it 2 survive

saobas: no d:

jayjen: ur just gonna let me DIE

jayjen: unbelievable

jayjen: it’s a dude isn’t it

Noiz stared at the last line. 

“What do I say?” Aoba asked softly, biting his lower lip. He was opting on saying yes, in fact, he  _ was _ with a guy, just to see how Jen would react. But, she could either react positively, or negatively. She could gush about Aoba’s supposed man-candy one night stand, or completely shut him out, too disgusted to continue talking to him. She could even tell the entire staff, spread dirty rumors about him. He didn’t peg Jen as that kind of person but, really, you never know. 

Was he really going to risk his job for the possibility of a closer friendship with Jen?

Noiz shrugged. “Do whatever you want.” But really, he was worrying about the same things Aoba was mulling over. 

Finally, Aoba typed his response.

saobas: yah d:

He felt like he was about to hurl. His current composure did not resemble the nonchalant emoticon he'd typed out. 

But just as quickly as he felt discomfort, he felt a wave of relief.

jayjen: omgggggggggg

jayjen: show me this hot man, worthy of The Aoba, hottest assistant secretary of zell direct

jayjen: besides me, obvi

Aoba’s cheeks flushed. “Am I the hottest secretary at work?”

Noiz looked him straight in the eyes. “Fuck yeah.”

Aoba giggled and began typing away. His heart was swelling happily; he was glad Jen was being cool about this. Sure, she didn’t know it was Noiz he had stayed the night with, and she didn’t know he didn’t actually get any ‘action’, but she at least knew he was into guys, and she was being very supportive, in her own Jen way.

“Stop.” Aoba’s phone was suddenly ripped from his hands and tossed across the room. 

“Hey!”

“Stop paying attention to Jen. Pay attention to me instead.” Noiz said this very flatly, unknowing of how cutesy and childish he was acting. But that lack of awareness made it even cuter, and Aoba grinned widely in response to Noiz’s scowl. 

“You already know I pay more attention to you than anyone else,” Aoba murmured, melting into another kiss. 

After several minutes of morning kisses to wake the two up, they eventually crawled out of bed. Aoba shuffled over to his discarded phone, which had, thankfully, landed in a pile of Noiz’s clothes. He grabbed it and shoved it into the pocket of a borrowed pair of sweatpants. 

The two made their way into the kitchen. Aoba lean against the kitchen countertop while Noiz rummaged through his fridge, looking for something for them to make. Would scrambled eggs and bacon suffice?

Aoba, on the other hand, was busy replying to Jen. She was pleading for every last detail of his “steamy hook-up,” wanting to know if it was just a one time thing. Aoba felt best to tell her that, yes, it was just a one-night stand, and he didn’t see himself getting into a relationship any time soon. He hoped he wasn’t threading a large web of lies. A teensy, white lie was all he knew he could get away with.

jayjen: show me ur mannnnn

‘Hmm.’ Aoba looked up and saw Noiz bending forward, trying to reach something towards the bottom of his fridge. An evil smirk crossed Aoba’s face as he snapped a zoomed-in picture of Noiz’s ass. 

“Your ass looks nice in those sweatpants,” Aoba mumbled as he sent the snap to Jen.

“I know.” Noiz turned around with a carton of eggs in one hand, a gallon of milk in the other. “Want eggs and pancakes?”

“Sure,” Aoba responded. His phone buzzed against the countertop. Jen had sent him a response: a picture. He opened it, already somewhat disconnected from the conversation. He’d end it soon so he could go cook with his boyfriend.

When the image opened and took up his entire screen, he gasped. Or, more like, he screamed, covering his mouth with his hand. He felt his legs go weak, an unsettling cold wrapping around his stomach.

Noiz was staring at him. Oh god, Noiz. He couldn’t let Noiz see the picture.

“What?” Noiz asked, leaning over the counter to look at his phone.

“N-Nothing!” Aoba stuttered, a nervous laugh escaping him. He quickly tapped at the phone to make the image go away.

“Nothing my ass. What did she send you? Let me see your phone.”

“It’s not like it matters! It was a snap, and it only lasted six seconds, so, it’s gone now! Forever!” He was smiling like an idiot, his cheeks hurting. Shit, he was acting really weird, wasn’t he?

His phone buzzed again. The two looked down at the screen at the same time. And, at the same time, they registered the red box. Jen had sent another picture.

“No!” Aoba screamed. He should’ve been able to grab it first; it was right in front of him! But Noiz was quick, that bastard, and swiped the phone away from him, running from the kitchen and up the stairs.

“Stop!” Aoba shouted. He ran after him, chasing him into his room. Noiz went to close the door, but Aoba slammed his shoulder against it and was able to push it open. Aoba was sweating, more from how nervous he was than the physical activity. He could _not_ let Noiz see that picture!

“Give it to me!” He clamped his hands on the phone. A small game of tug-o-war ensued between the two. Aoba quickly kicked Noiz’s shin, but then Noiz jabbed his side with a finger. Aoba let go of his grip on the phone with one hand, and instead used that hand to push Noiz's face away from the screen. Noiz glared at him, gave a low grunt, and they were suddenly falling onto the unmade bed.

Noiz crawled on top of Aoba, sitting on his back and pinning him down.

“Get off of me!” Aoba wailed, flailing his legs against the bed. Noiz leaned forward so that they could both see the screen. And, wordlessly, he opened the image.

It was a picture of a man’s back, half illuminated by the sunlight peeking in through the room’s window. The man was sitting at the end of a bed, putting long, dark blue hair into a ponytail and giving a full show of his back muscles and, more importantly, the back tattoo that trailed from his shoulder down to his lower back. The picture was captioned ‘DAMN. HOW DID I MANAGE TO GET THIS? hes so hot send help.’ 

The image disappeared after six seconds, and the two boys were left to stare at the white dashboard screen of the application. They stayed quiet for a long time, Aoba unsure if he should even speak. Maybe him not saying anything was too suspicious? Unfortunately, he’d already made a big deal about this entire thing. Noiz knew something was up. 

Noiz clicked the phone off and tossed it aside. He grabbed a handful of Aoba’s hair and tugged it back so Aoba was looking up at him. Aoba winced. Noiz’s glare was icey cold. 

“Aoba,” Noiz began, an unnerving calmness in his voice, “ _ who was that _ ?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi!!!!  
> ok guys, i promise, i will not let this one die! i'm back for good, i promise!!!  
> honestly, at this point, i'm just free-writing, with no real direction of plot, and i'm not sure where i'll eventually go with this, but for now! we've got a certain dark blue haired individual to deal with  
> aaaa tell me what you guys think!!! i've got my motivation back, so i promise i wont leave you guys to wait for the next chapter for a year and a half lmao,,,  
> if you want to shout at me in more intimate quarters, my tumblr is thecutestprince.tumblr.com   
> thanks for reading! and thanks for sticking around, if you actually did so (^':


	10. Chapter 10

“Get off of me.”

“Tell me who that was.”

“I will if you  _ get off of me first _ .”

“...”

Noiz finally stepped off the bed and released Aoba. Aoba barked a, “Thank you!” as he got to his feet. He straightened out his shirt and pulled up his sweatpants, which were sagging below the waistline of his briefs. 

Noiz crossed his arms impatiently. “Well?”

Aoba ran a hand through his hair and sighed. He sat back against the side of the bed, looking up at Noiz. “That was Koujaku.”

“Koujaku,” Noiz repeated, waiting for Aoba to continue.

Aoba nodded. “He’s… an old college friend.” 

The nervous way Aoba spoke caused Noiz to cock an eyebrow. “Just a friend?”

Aoba opted on being honest. He didn’t want to hide anything, only for things to eventually snowball into a giant mess. Seemed like things would get messy regardless. 

“N-no,” Aoba said carefully. “We, uh, hooked up a couple of times. We never really worked out enough to be a couple. I thought it was just sex, but… I found out that he was far more interested in a relationship than I was, and I ended it. I didn’t want to lead him on, you know?”

Noiz simply stared, lips set thin. Aoba let out a nervous laugh.

“Anyways, the reason I freak out is because well, he, uh… After we… ended things, he started hooking up more with girls. But Koujaku is  _ terrible _ at communicating things, and he wouldn’t be clear with what he wanted, that’s why we ended kind of badly. So, girls would get attached, even though he was treating it as a no strings attached sort of deal.”

Aoba fell silent, biting at the end of his thumb. He’d seen so many fallouts Koujaku could have avoided if he’d just been open and clear with his relationships. Sure, it’d been nearly a year since the two had seen each other, and Aoba truly wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. It was entirely possible that Koujaku had changed. But, it was also entirely possible that Koujaku hadn’t changed at all, and he was about to reel Jen into drama she didn’t have to deal with.

“I’m just worried he’ll hurt Jen,” he put it simply. 

Noiz had the same train of thought. He always felt Jen was strong. She didn’t really deal with anyone’s bullshit, definitely not Noiz’s. But he didn’t feel like finding out how far her strength could carry her.

“I want to talk to this guy,” he said firmly. 

Aoba gave him a panicked look. “I don’t know…” He could tell Noiz already didn’t like him. 

“I just want to make sure Jen was okay,” he reassured him. And he tried to reassure himself that the dislike towards this Koujaku character didn’t involve his past relationship with Aoba.

“Alright,” Aoba responded. So long as he was there to mediate, nothing could go wrong, right? “He might still be bartending at this bar we used to- uh, we can stop by there later tonight, alright?”

Noiz grunted in response, trying to swallow past Aoba’s obvious slip-up. “Fine.”

Aoba gave him a reassuring smile. He reached out and grabbed one of Noiz’s hands from under his crossed arms.  “Would you stop looking so grumpy? Geez, you’re making me nervous.”

“Sorry,” he grumbled, letting Aoba pull him in closer. Suddenly, Aoba stopped, his face going sour.

“Do you smell something burning?”

If Noiz’s kitchen wasn’t about to burn down, Aoba might have enjoyed the sudden look of shock that clashed with Noiz’s usually stoic look.

 

Aoba stared out the window, stomach flip-flopping. The scenery outside went from the still unfamiliar greens of Noiz’s neighbourhood to the all too familiar cluttered neighbourhood Aoba lived in. Before they could head to the bar, Aoba had to stop by his house to change, and when Aoba informed Noiz of this, he’d suggested on accompanying him inside. 

“You don’t have to!” Aoba said.

“I want to,” Noiz insisted, his eyes fixed on the road ahead of him. 

In truth, Aoba was nervous about him introducing himself to his grandmother, Tae. Regardless of whether Noiz chose to introduce himself as a friend, coworker, or as his  _ boyfriend _ , the thought of each possibility made Aoba’s head spin. Definitely more so the last option. 

What if Noiz expected  _ Aoba _ to introduce him? Oh god, what would he say? Would he introduce him as just a friend? But what if Noiz felt hurt about that? Then again, Noiz might prefer that than to be known as his boyfriend. This entire inner conflict was making Aoba’s head hurt. By the time they were parked in front of his house, Aoba hadn’t been able to come up with a solid solution.

Aoba’s shaky legs managed to carry him to his front door, though he did have trouble trying to get the front gate open. He was painfully aware of Noiz behind him, feeling his breath against his neck, even though there was plenty of space between them and Aoba was definitely imagining it. Aoba fished around his pockets for his key and, once he’d found it, opened the door to his house.

“Gran, I’m home!” he called out. “I, uh, brought company!” 

As the two pulled off their shoes, footsteps could be heard coming from the living room. Aoba’s grandmother entered the hallway and stood before them, her body blocking Aoba’s escape route to his room upstairs. 

Aoba always found her intimidating. Despite the fact that he knew all about her soft spot and the true, caring attitude behind her strict words, he still looked at her as though she was this stern boulder of a woman. Her face was set in a permanent scowl,  her eyebrows forever furrowed. He thought of how Noiz could be misinterpreting her scowl and found himself shrinking.

A tense silence had fallen between them. Aoba came to his senses and cleared his throat. “Gran, this is, uh, Noiz, my-”

Noiz stepped past him, holding out a hand. “I’m Aoba’s boyfriend, Wilhelm. I mostly go by Noiz, but I’m comfortable with either. It’s nice to finally meet you.”

Aoba felt his soul escape his gaping mouth. He was shocked and slack-jawed. First of all,  _ Wilhelm _ ?! Second of all,  _ WILHELM.  _

In all seriousness, he hadn’t expected this turn of events at all. Noiz had breezed right past a sweaty, nervous Aoba and had done all the hard work for him, and he made it look so easy! His voice was smooth and cool, no sign of nervousness. All he could hear from Noiz’s voice was honest respect for his elder, for Aoba’s grandmother. 

Aoba found himself falling for Noiz all over again. 

Tae shook Noiz’s hand firmly, shooting Aoba a look that made his face go warm. 

“So,” she began, “you’re the boy that’s been keeping my grandson away from home every weekend, hn?”

“G-Gran…”

“Thank you for looking after him,” his grandmother spoke suddenly. Aoba’s face flushed again. He could hardly believe the scene developing before him. Was this a dream? Maybe he had a fever. “He’s been a pain in my ass, so thanks for getting him out of the house.”

“Gran!” Aoba whined. Noiz was holding back a laugh, while his grandmother was laughing heartily. “I just stopped by to change. We’re gonna go, uh, visit Koujaku.”

His grandmother snorted and turned around, walking towards the kitchen. “You’ll stay for dinner.”

“But-”

“Yes ma’am, thank you,” Noiz cut Aoba off, shooting him a look. “Listen to your grandmother.”

Aoba glared at him. “Since when did you turn into such an angel!”

 

Fortunately for Aoba, his grandmother didn’t decide to sit with them at the table. She was only concerned with making sure they were well fed and spent most of her time washing dishes. Aoba and Noiz had a quiet conversation, and Tae was content on just listening. When they were done eating, Noiz washed both of their dishes, and Aoba let him do so without protest. He  _ was _ trying to impress her, after all. 

“Thank you for the dinner,” Noiz called out as Aoba led him out the door. Tae was standing in the middle of the hallway, giving the two a small smile. 

“Of course,” she said. Her warm smile turned into a stern frown directed at her grandson. “Aoba! Bring him over more often. Stop hiding your dates from me.”

“Sorry,” he laughed. “I’ll be back later.”

“Right,” she muttered, not fully convinced.

“Have a good night,” Noiz said, and the two walked out the door, Noiz leading the way to his car.

Aoba reached out and grabbed his arm, pulling him back towards him. 

“What?”

“What do you mean  _ what? _ That was amazing!”

Noiz gave a small, embarrassed grin. “You really think so? 

“Yes, dude, she loved you!” Aoba said. He wrapped his arms around Noiz’s neck, leaning into him. “You really made me happy, eh Noiz?” 

And just as Aoba was happy, Noiz was happy, too. He knew how much Aoba’s grandmother meant to him. She had brought him up, and she’d taken care of him practically on her own. She worked hard to make sure Aoba grew up in a healthy environment. And for that, Noiz had an enormous amount of respect. To gain Tae’s approval was a huge relief. And seeing his boyfriend looking up at him with the sky’s stars in his eyes, well, that was a bonus.

“I’m glad,” Noiz said, wrapping his arms tighter around Aoba’s waist. He leaned in, lips only inches from Aoba’s. “I’m happy, too.”

It was nearing nine when they got to the bar. This was a bit early, which was alright. It guaranteed that Koujaku wouldn’t be too busy bartending to talk. 

The bar was occupied with only a few people, most of the small crowd lounging at tables or crowded around a pool table in the corner. This was a smaller bar when compared to the rest, but this bars managed to maintain a steady amount of clients and remained one of the more popular bars due to the city’s favorite bartender. 

Aoba was already uneasy, but that uneasiness stirred in his stomach when he caught sight of Koujaku. He was talking to a client, mouth open in that dashing smile he always trapped people with. His dark hair was let loose, the length and condition of it almost making Aoba jealous. He was wearing a red button up shirt with a few buttons left undone, shirt loosely tucked into a tight pair of black pants. When he caught sight of Aoba, his red eyes light up like fire.

Noiz exhaled, unimpressed.

“Aoba!” Koujaku called out, voice happy from the pleasant surprise. He stepped forward as much as the bar table before him would allow. “Wow. Haven’t seen you in months! What’re you doing here?”

Aoba smiled and shook Koujaku’s hand. For a brief moment, he forgot about what they were there for and instead realized he’d missed Koujaku far more than he realized. He was suddenly nostalgic about their college days spent together. “I just felt like catching up, you know?” 

“Right, right,” Koujaku mused, giving him a warm smile. His attention went to Noiz, and Aoba became painfully aware of how close they were standing. “Who’s this?”

“Ah, this is Noiz, he-”

“I’m his boyfriend,” Noiz said firmly, holding out his hand for Koujaku to shake. Noiz noticed Koujaku’s eyes falter as he accepted the handshake.

“Will you stop doing that!” Aoba whined. Noiz made no promises and instead smiled smugly. 

Something seemed to snap Koujaku back into reality. “Can I get you guys anything to drink?”

When Noiz, the night’s designated driver, shook his head, Aoba spoke up. “I’ll just have your usual.”

“Ah,” Koujaku said, smile back on his face. “The city’s favorite. Coming right up.” Koujaku turned and Aoba leaned towards Noiz.

“It’s just an appletini.”

The two boys sat at the counter, Koujaku returning with Aoba’s drink shortly. Aoba could tell Koujaku was slightly bummed; he probably wanted Aoba to ask for something more complicated so he could display his mastery in bartending. Show off. But Aoba was only really drinking to calm his nerves. He sipped at his drink and let the alcohol settle his insides.

“So, what have you been up to?” Koujaku asked. He found a glass to busy his hands and began cleaning it with a nearby towel. 

“Nothing really. I, uh, got a job.”

“That’s great! Where at?”

“Zell.”

“Oh, wow. A company job, huh?”

“Yeah,” Aoba chuckled nervously. “It’s just a secretary position. Nothing major.”

“Hey, a secretary position is definitely important,” Koujaku said. “Doing all the actual work while your boss lays back and relaxes? He’d probably be lost without you.”

Aoba tensed up. Seeing as his boss was  _ right next to him _ , he wasn’t sure whether to laugh or not. He glanced over at Noiz, who was staring off at the bottles on display before them. Looks like he didn’t hear.

“Oh yeah,” Aoba began. “Yeah, my boss doesn’t do shit.”

Noiz turned to him. “Shut up.”

“What’s with your selective hearing?” 

Noiz just rolled his eyes and went back to looking at anything but the bartender before him. 

Koujaku chuckled. “Does he work with you?”

“Sort of, yea-”

“I’m his boss.”

“ _ Noiz! _ ”

Aoba swiftly slapped the back of his head. Noiz rubbed the spot, pouting. Koujaku stared at them with an incredulous look. 

“You’re  _ dating _ your boss?”

Aoba rested his head in his hands. “It’s a long story, Koujaku. I’m sorry, I… We came here for a specific reason.”

Koujaku probably already knew this. He stared at Aoba expectantly, waiting for him to speak. But he didn’t really know what to say.

Of course, when Aoba falls quiet, Noiz is there to break the silence.

“What are your intentions with Jen.”

Koujaku blinked. He looked confused for a few seconds, and then he managed to tie things together in his head. “The girl I was with last night? How the hell do you know-”

“We work with her,” Aoba chimed in. He could feel Koujaku’s anger at the way Noiz had spoken, almost commanding information out of Koujaku, rather than asking. And he could feel Noiz’s impatience, noticing how he played with his knuckles.

“She sent me a picture of you,” he explained. “On snapchat.”

“Right,” Koujaku muttered as he crossed his arms. “Why do you care about who I’m seeing?”

“Are you seeing her, or just having sex with her?”

“Noiz-”

“Why. Do you. Care.”

“Koujaku, we just-”

“She’s my friend.”

“She’s our friend, and we-”

“I don’t think she cares about your two cents.”

“Well I think you should stay away-”

“Enough!” Aoba’s shrill voice and the sound of his palms slapping the bar table’s counter managed to quiet the two boys bickering. Aoba gave them both stern looks as he sat back down onto his seat.

Noiz’s threat hung heavy in the air. ‘I think you should stay away from her.’ Koujaku was  _ not _ happy. He was looking away, grinding his teeth. Noiz was staring at him, refusing to look away. Aoba sighed, the exhausted exhale grabbing both of the boys’ attention. 

“Look,” Aoba began, turning his attention to Koujaku, “you have an unfortunate track history with girls.”

“I’ve dated  _ plenty _ -”

“I don’t care how many girls you’ve dated, I care about how many girls wound up crying messes because of you!” he cut him off. Koujaku opened his mouth to talk, then shut it, pressing his lips together. He looked like a child getting scolded. “And I don’t care what you do with Jen. Really, I don’t. I just want to know that she’s not gonna be that girl, Koujaku. She can’t be that girl. It would tear us apart.”

Aoba let the words settle against Koujaku before speaking again. “Be honest with her. Be clear with her. If it’s not anything serious, make sure she knows that before you do anything else. Can you do that for me?”

Koujaku could only nod. He cleared his throat before speaking. “Right. I’ll do that.”

“Thank you,” Aoba sighed. He remembered his drink and downed it in one swig. He slid the empty glass to Koujaku and, needing something to do with his hands, reached for Noiz’s. “And, uh, she doesn’t know me and Noiz are- don’t tell her.”

Koujaku nodded again. The tension in the air made Aoba too uneasy, but he couldn’t move from his seat, and he couldn’t tear his eyes from Koujaku’s, and-

“Hey,” Noiz said, his voice suddenly close to his ear. “Let’s get out of here, yeah?”

“Right,” Aoba sighed, letting Noiz help him off his seat. He turned to Koujaku and gave him a small smile. “Let’s keep in touch.”

“Of course,” Koujaku said, watching them steadily.

Noiz led Aoba out of the bar; Aoba was much too scatterbrained to process his surroundings, let alone find his way to the car. He let Noiz lead him across the parking lot, and then Noiz was leaning against the car and wrapping his arms around Aoba.

Noiz rubbed his back soothingly, and Aoba felt himself begin to relax and melt into Noiz’s calming embrace. When Aoba no longer felt so nervous, Noiz spoke up.

“This place,” he began, whispering the words against Aoba’s forehead. “Kind of reminds me of how we first met.” 

Aoba worked past his nerves and smiled. They’d met at a noisy bar, hooked up without thinking of any possible consequence. If they had stopped to think, the thought of them winding up as coworkers probably wouldn’t have crossed their minds. But they hadn’t stop to think, they just went with what felt right, what felt good, and Noiz was kissing against his neck and he was thinking about how good that night was, how good he’d felt then, and how good he felt  _ now.  _ He shoved tonight’s confrontation to the back of his head, and with the way Noiz was now kissing his jaw, that wasn’t too difficult

“Hey,” Aoba whispered, gently pushing Noiz off of him. “Take me home.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wooooo this chapter was fun to write! 3,000 words, nice  
> im trying to figure out what to do with koujaku tbh. i know how this starts and ends, i need that good meaty middle ya feel  
> also, so sorry but these next four weeks are gonna be Hell for me because I have finals and so many reports and projects due haha! i probably won't update very steadily, but ill try to post one soon!  
> as always, thank you all for your extremely kind and supportive messages!


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> smut warning!! if you don't like smut, don't read this chapter (it doesn't even contribute to the plot ahaha, theres only slight mentions)  
> that being said: you may continue forward and Read My Sins

He had said to take him home. But the way his voice was low, how he looked up at him with half-lidded eyes- he knew he meant something else.

He drove in silence, Aoba quiet as well. He tightened and untightened his grip on the steering wheel, swallowed hard. They could both feel the tension in the air, as if the tension from the argument before had turned itself into something sexual.

They arrived at Noiz’s house, still without any words exchanged. Noiz opened the door to his apartment and almost headed up to his room without even checking on Aoba. He turned around and opened his mouth to speak, but then Aoba lips were on his and he stumbled back against the wall.

Noiz groaned against the kiss, and Aoba moaned in response. He had no idea where this energy was coming from, but it was fine by him. He was entirely okay with the way Aoba’s hands were roaming his body, fingers tugging desperately at the buttons of his shirt. Noiz pulled away from the kiss and started to undo the first button of his shirt.

“Should we…,” he trailed off, motioning at the stairs. Aoba gave him a small nod, absentmindedly running his tongue over his lips. It wasn’t even an action he thought to do, but it set something off in Noiz, something that made him reach forward and kiss Aoba’s lips hungrily.

He took Aoba’s hand while he kissed him, and when he pulled away, he lead him up the stairs, practically slamming the door open on his way into his room. He turned around to look at his boyfriend, but Aoba did not falter. He pressed his hands against Noiz’s chest and pushed him back onto the bed behind him. The startled look Noiz gave him caused Aoba to laugh embarrassedly.

“Sorry,” Aoba apologized, placing a knee next to Noiz’s waist. “I just… need-”

“Don’t say anything,” Noiz said, voice hoarse. He was back at unbuttoning his shirt, sitting up to slide it off his arms. It was Aoba’s turn to undress him; he teased at Noiz’s skin, running his fingers under his undershirt and pulling it up over his head. And then he was no longer looking at the white fabric of Noiz’s undershirt, but at Noiz’s tanned skin. The way Aoba was examining him, and how he accompanied his observing with another absentminded lick of his lips, it was enough to make Noiz’s face flush. 

“I’m so glad you didn’t get rid of these,” Aoba said lowly, running fingers up Noiz’s sides and stopping a thumb over Noiz’s pierced nipples. Aoba felt Noiz shudder, but Noiz kept a composed look. 

“I knew they’d come in handy sometime,” Noiz replied. He watched as Aoba gave him a devious look, and then he was leaning forward, pressing his mouth against his right nipple. 

The feeling of Aoba’s tongue toying with the piercing was enough to have Noiz arching his back slightly, a low gasp escaping his lips. The sound of Noiz’s pleasurable gasp only encouraged Aoba further as he switched his attention to his left nipple. His thumb circled around the other, and the attention both his nipples were getting turned his low gasps into soft moans. 

Aoba was insanely turned on. In this situation, Aoba was the one leading, and both he and Noiz loved it. They’d spent several weekends together by then, but their nights never got past sloppy kisses and drunken hand jobs. They were either too busy, too tired, or too drunk to recreate anything similar to the encounter in the bar which, at this point, felt like ages ago. And during that encounter, Noiz seemed to be the one in charge. Finally, Aoba would have a chance to repay him. 

Aoba pulled away and reached for a hairband in his back pocket. As he did this, Noiz was tugging at his shirt, untucking it and then moving fingers towards the buttons. Aoba tied his hair back and Noiz slowly undressed him, only breaking eye contact once or twice. By the time Aoba was finished tying his hair into a messy bun, Noiz had gotten most of the buttons undone. Aoba finished the rest and slid his shirt off, then he pulled the neck of his shirt and tossed it aside. 

“You’re so hot,” Noiz muttered lowly, pressing kisses against Aoba’s collarbone. Although he’d heard many renditions of this throughout their relationship, Aoba still found his chest swelling at Noiz’s words. 

“Mn.” Aoba ran his fingers through Noiz’s hair, scratching lightly against the back of his neck and shoulders. 

“Shit, I could just-”

“ _ You’re _ not doing anything,” Aoba cut him off, pushing him onto his back. Noiz stared at him. 

‘God, he is so perfect,’ he thought to himself as he watched Aoba slowly unbuckle his belt. ‘I don’t even  have to _ask_ for a blowjob. I don’t deserve him.’ And then his thoughts of admiration went incoherent as Aoba slid off his pants and immediately pressed an open mouth on the fabric straining his erection. 

Noiz leaned his head back and let out a low moan, hand immediately reaching for Aoba’s head. His fingers intertwined with loose locks of his hair as Aoba teased at his erection, his tongue finding the hardness of his piercing. 

“I’m very glad you didn’t get rid of  _ that _ either,” Aoba said as he slowly pulled Noiz’s boxers down his thighs. He let those rest at his knees and began kissing the skin of Noiz’s inner thighs. 

“Aoba,” Noiz groaned, pulling lightly at his hair. He was so damn  _ hard _ , and Aoba was taking his sweet ass time, and he  _ knew _ it only frustrated Noiz. Yes, Aoba knew this, with every kiss and suck and bite against Noiz’s skin. 

Aoba pulled away from Noiz’s thighs and went to kiss him again, a hand wrapping itself around Noiz’s cock. Noiz moaned against Aoba’s lips as he stroked his length, up and down; he could hardly focus on kissing Aoba back.

“Good?” Aoba asked. They locked eyes with each other as Aoba continued to stroke him. The moment was too intimate; Noiz fell back against the bed and covered his face with his hands. Noiz almost screamed into his hands. Aoba chuckled. 

“Hey, no, look at me,” Noiz heard Aoba say. The weight in the bed had shifted; Noiz sat up again, resting against his elbows, and watched as Aoba stared up at him and slowly licked up from the base to the tip of his cock. Noiz bit his lip, trying to contain a moan, but then Aoba took him in his mouth and he threw his head back and let out a small moan. 

His hands again went to Aoba’s hair, and Aoba’s hands were running up and down his stomach and chest as he bobbed slowly, up and down, tongue paying special attention to the tip of his cock as well as the piercing he found so attractive. Not that the piercing didn’t benefit Noiz, as well. Every time Aoba’s tongue toyed with it, Noiz’s hips would buck slightly, and he let out soft noises of pleasure that only encouraged Aoba and sent jolts of pleasure through his own erection.

Eventually, Aoba’s cock needed attention, as well, and he snaked an arm under his now unzipped pants and he stroked at his length while his mouth worked on Noiz’s. They were at the point where Noiz was letting out long, loud moans, mixing noises of pleasure with what sounded like Aoba’s name.

“A-Aoba… fuck, please, god I’m so close,” Noiz begged, fingers gripping against Aoba’s hair. To hear Noiz so needy, practically begging, it almost sent Aoba off the edge. But he was determined to make Noiz come first, so he slowed his hand and focused more on the mouth around Noiz’s cock.

Aoba began paying attention to the head of Noiz’s cock, swirling his tongue around it. Noiz was almost shaking, back arched completely. He was moaning Aoba’s name loudly, voice dripping with pleasure. Aoba was practically thrusting into his own hand at this point, and he snaked his other arm around Noiz’s hips and dug his nails into Noiz’s ass.

Noiz let out a long moan, one that started off as Aoba’s name but then turned into incoherent gasps and shaking breaths. Noiz was coming, and hearing Noiz’s desperate moans of pleasure had Aoba coming, as well. Aoba pulled back and let out a long moan, coming into his hand and feeling Noiz’s cum land on his cheek and the side of his lip. He leaned forward, pressing his forehead against Noiz’s chest, waiting for the bucking of his hips to subside. 

Their gasps and breaths melted into each other until they were both left panting. Once he regained his composure, Aoba stood up slowly and walked to the bathroom to wash his face and clean his hands. He came back with only his boxers on, pants discarded in the floor of Noiz’s bathroom, and Noiz had pulled up his boxers and was resting on the bed, face hidden behind the crook of his arm. 

Aoba crawled into bed with him, wrapping his arms around his chest.

“You good?” Aoba asked, looking up at Noiz. Noiz moved his arm away and looked at him; Aoba could now see that he was still blushing. A proud smile spread across Aoba’s face.

“I’m  _ more _ than good, Aoba,” he responded, leaning down to press a kiss on his forehead. “You are so good to me, fuck.”

“I’m the best boyfriend, right?” Noiz scoffed, then laughed at Aoba’s offended look. 

“Whatever…”

But nothing could dampen Aoba’s mood. Aoba was generally the more vocal of the two, and he often wished Noiz would be a little… louder. Noiz’s moans were hot, and although he was no longer hard, just thinking about Noiz moaning had Aoba contemplating a round two. Yes, tonight, Noiz had been  _ very _ loud, a moaning, gasping, panting mess, and it was such a turn on; Aoba decided he’d take charge more often.

“That was nice,” Aoba thought outloud. Noiz hummed a response. “I don’t know, I was so nervous about Koujaku, I just kind of wanted to get it out and… this was good stress relief.”

Noiz chuckled his agreement. He stayed silent, then said, “I’m sorry I kind of got out of hand back there.” 

Aoba looked up at him; Noiz was suddenly serious. Aoba reached up and gave him a peck on the lips. “It’s fine. I’m sure he’s not mad.”

“Hmm,” he hummed again, closing his eyes. He could feel Aoba staring at him; he opened an eye to look at him.

“Stop staring.”

“I can’t,” Aoba responded. “You’re too cute.”

Noiz’s face felt hot again. He thought back to the fond memories, of when Aoba was the blushing mess, not him. He had to up his game, or else Aoba would keep having the upper hand. He’d give him tonight, though. He deserved tonight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ah yes, my First Ever Smut. Truly, I've become the 19 year old i wanted to become. when i blew out the candles of my birthday cake last month, my wish was to write decent smut. i truly hope it came true.  
> anyways!!!! yeaaaaaah this is just a buffer to make up for the lack of updating due to finals week. hopefully i will work on this soon, though im kind of stumped where to go next? i will have to do some brainstorming for sure  
> i hope you liked this awful attempt at smut. honestly the fact that its nearly 2,000 words leaves me confident its decent? i read smut thats like 164.5 words and im like.... what happened exactly  
> ok im rambling. its 150 AM, i began writing this at 11 PM, im a mess. good bye for now


End file.
